City Council

1 2 3 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 4 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL 5 REGULAR SESSION 6 July 11, 2022 7 8 MINUTES 9 10 Present: Mayor Bianca Motley Broom; Councilmen Ambrose Clay, Joe Carn, Ken Allen and 11 Roderick Gay; Interim City Manager Jackson Myers; City Attorney Winston 12 Denmark; City Clerk Shavala Ames 13 14 Absent: None 15 16 17 REGULAR SESSION 18 19 1. Opening Ceremonies: 7:32 20 21 A. Pledge of allegiance to the flag. 22 23 B. Invocation by Chaplin Jamelle McKenzie 24 25 2. Additions, Deletions, Amendments, Or Changes to The Agenda. 26 27 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to delete from the agenda item 6b. request to set a 28 Public Hearing to consider a Conditional Use Permit at 2510 W Point Ave in the 29 M2 - Heavy Industrial Zoning District; add to the agenda item 8d. the purchase 30 of 7.4 acres from MARTA, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. 31 (All voted yes). 32 33 3. Presentation Of Minutes of City Council. 34 35 A. Regular Session held on June 20, 2022. 36 37 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Regular Session Minutes dated June 20, 38 2022, with corrections, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried: 39 40 Packet Page 18, Line 531 s/b “…came…” not “…come…” 41 42 B. Work Session held on June 20, 2022. 43 44 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Workshop Session Minutes dated June 20, 45 2022, as presented, seconded by Councilman Allen and motion carried. (All 46 voted yes). 47 48 4. Proclamations, Resolutions, Plaques, And Announcements. 49 50 A. Presentation of a Proclamation designating August 2, 2022, as “National Night Out” in the 51 City of College Park and authorizing National Night Out festivities in front of City 52 Auditorium. 53 54 B. Presentation of a Proclamation Recognizing July as Park and Recreation Month. 55 56 5. Remarks Of Citizens. 57 58 a) Jamelle McKenzie, 2427 Odell Way, said good evening Mayor and Council. I'm 59 Jamelle McKenzie, the Executive Director of Ignite Resource Center. I want to start 60 by thanking you Mayor and Council for choosing to partner with Ignite in the 2022- 61 2023 year so that we can continue to contribute and serve the residents of College 62 Park. We've taken on a plethora of projects this year that are designed to enhance and 63 improve the quality of life of our citizens, and we've been very concerned about 64 literacy and realizing that reading is a vital component of succeeding. This Saturday, 65 we'll have our third Read to Succeed event held at Subrenia Willis Park and it will be 66 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. We are going to be serving all of the apartments on that Camp 67 Creek strip from 2700 to 2900. Our 18 students that are enrolled in our Birthright by 68 Legacy program for teen leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs have been interning 69 for the summer. They're getting ready to go into their final two weeks of internships 70 and we are grateful for a grant of $20,000 from Fulton County that is providing the 71 intern stipends for several of the students in our program. 72 73 Our next big event is going to be after August 6. It's our back-to-school event and 74 we're excited about that. It's going to be at the GICC. We want to thank you again to 75 our councilmen who have contributed towards the purchase of backpacks. We're 76 looking forward to having an amazing time inside the GICC this year as we've been 77 outside for the last couple of years. We'll be giving away book bags, school supplies, 78 face masks, and groceries. Our basketball teams the Skyhawks and the Atlanta Dream 79 will be there. We just got word today that Aetna is on board to attend. We're happy 80 about that especially since they have the contract here with the city and they're going 81 to give back to our community through being there as well. We've got a lot of other 82 sponsors and we're grateful for them. I'm happy to announce that Ignite, myself, I've 83 been selected from 15 leaders across the United States by Chick-Fil-A to represent 84 their incubator accelerator cohort program. It's a 10-month program for leaders who 85 are making an impact in their community and I'm looking forward to what that's going 86 to do for us as an organization and myself. I wanted again to thank you for all these 87 opportunities that have become viable for us because of the contributions that you have 88 made to our organization. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again. 89 90 b) Shirley Robinson, 2741 Lakeshore Drive said I stopped by to talk about the taxes for 91 the seniors. I'm the one who turned it into Councilman Gay about getting the taxes and 92 getting it on the ballot for the election. I understand that the Governor already signed Page 2 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022  93 the Bill and I'd like to make sure everybody cooperates in getting it on the ballot so it 94 can go up for election. It's not easy out here for the seniors. I've been retired for like 95 20 years and inflation has eaten up my paycheck. I don't have a whole lot of money to 96 pay a lot of taxes and they are building four hundred thousand dollar houses right up 97 the street from me; but the taxes keep going up and up. It's hard and some of you guys 98 can be okay with that; but for somebody who has a check just off a fixed income, it's 99 very difficult to pay all that. I'd just like to have all you all’s consideration and make 100 sure that it gets on the ballot. Thank you. 101 102 c) Alicia Houston, 3598 Valley Bridge said good evening Madam Mayor and Council. I 103 live in Ward 1 and I saw on the agenda tonight that you guys are considering a renewal 104 of Fulton County to run our municipal elections and I'm concerned about that. Fulton 105 County has been in the news for all the wrong reasons as it pertains to election running. 106 They don't do it themselves; they outsource it to an incredibly expensive contractor. 107 They also just recently changed the rules as it used to be that Fulton County would 108 charge a city for however many registered voters we had in our city and then if turnout 109 was significantly lower than the number of registered voters that we had they would 110 refund us that difference. But they've since changed that. With all of our budget 111 concerns and all the other things we have going on for a city as small as ours, with as 112 few voters as we have turned out to an election, I think there are a lot better ways for 113 us to use our taxpayer dollars in a more transparent and accountable way. As far as the 114 results, I did a little research and I talked to some other small cities like ours within 115 Fulton County. Milton in particular recently put their renewal of the Fulton County 116 contract on hold. They put together a panel with two of their council members, the city 117 clerk, a member of city staff, and two residents to sit and figure out the best way to do 118 it. There are actually between 30 to 50 cities within Georgia that do their municipal 119 elections on paper ballots locally at a fraction of the cost of what Fulton County passes 120 through to us. I think with all the lack of public trust that's out there these days in our 121 state and our county, I would like to ask that you guys pause and maybe put a similar 122 panel together for us to figure out how to run our city elections here in a very 123 transparent and accountable way for everyone can see. Some of our council races have 124 been decided by less than 100 votes and it's not a huge undertaking for us with the 125 public buildings that we already have for our precincts to be able to save money, but 126 to create election transparency and accountability here. I just wanted to ask you guys 127 to consider that tonight. Thank you very much. 128 129 130 City Clerk Ms. Shavala Ames said I have no others that signed in, but I do have three that emailed 131 comments. 132 133 d) Marjorie Dent [read verbatim by City Clerk] Good evening, Madam Bianca Motley 134 Broom and Council Members. My name is Marjorie A. Dent and I reside at 4021 Jesse 135 A. Dent Jr. Rd. Ward 4. I have been a resident of the City of College Park, Ga for the 136 past 46 years. I would like to address the Bill before you tonight: HB1417 which 137 originally provided a full exemption to homestead residents 65 years or older. To my 138 understanding the bill that was introduced by Councilman Roderick Gay was approved Page 3 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 139 3:2 by Council. It was sponsored by our State Legislature approved in the House and 140 signed by the Governor. HB1417 provides a full exemption to homestead residents 65 141 years or older. Please ensure that the bill is placed on the ballot for November' to be 142 voted on by our Seniors and all members of the community. Thanks for giving your 143 support for this bill that will alleviate the burden of taxes for the Seniors of College 144 Park. Sincerely Marjorie A. Dent, Pastor. 145 146 e) Grace Phillips [read verbatim by City Clerk] In the season of bicycling, and in the 147 season of change in College Park, I encourage the Mayor and Council to consider the 148 present assets of Six West for bicycle tourism. College Park Main Street Association's 149 Strategic Plan includes plans for enhancing bike and pedestrian safety and thus 150 enhancing the beauty of downtown College Park. While Six West is still in rough 151 development it presents an excellent opportunity for mountain bike tourism. If you 152 have willing communities to make the non-expensive lift of creating mountain bike 153 baths, we as a community would be remiss to not accept the offer. I have learned that 154 in the recent past there was a MOU with MTB Atlanta to create this effort with 155 minimal cost. Please put forth the effort to find and embrace this past MOU to bring 156 more people downtown and explore our amazing potential in Six West. Additionally, 157 I am extremely disheartened by the recent death on Main Street and Harvard involving 158 the train. How can we make that intersection safer to prevent this from occurring again 159 in the future? Thank you for your consideration and support. Grace Lunsford, CPMSA 160 Board Member and College Park Resident. 161 162 f) Salisa Jefferson [read verbatim by City Clerk] Good evening, Mayor and Council. I 163 am requesting your support to add to the November 2022 ballot the City Property tax 164 exemption for our Senior citizen homeowners. It’s imperative for our community to 165 support our Seniors to help them save their homes which they have made a lifetime 166 commitment to thrive and provide as a legacy to their families. There should be no 167 income restrictions added because our current Homestead Exemption is not based on 168 income requirements. Let’s come together to show our full cooperation and collaborate 169 to help our Senior citizens succeed! All the best to everyone and stay blessed. Sincerely 170 Mrs. Selissa Jefferson Vice- Chair BIDA. 171 172 Mayor Motley Broom said thank you, Ms. Ames. Does anyone wish to speak for three minutes? 173 174 g) Beulah Lindsey, 3568 Herschel Road said I'm delighted to be here, and I'm delighted 175 to speak on the issue that is of concern to me and that is the tax-exempt opportunity 176 for seniors 65 and older. I fall in that category; I know you can't believe it, but I do. 177 I'm concerned not so much for myself but for others that are 65 and older who may 178 not have the opportunity that I have to be able to pay my taxes without strain. There 179 are so many that don't fall in that category and those that do are the ones that I am 180 concerned about. The lady who spoke about that earlier and brought that initiative 181 before Councilman Gay and I are delighted publicly to be able to thank Councilman 182 Gay for bringing that initiative forward. I hope that this body will push that forward 183 and think about the ones that are 65 and older and not punish the ones who can pay it 184 just because we fall into that category. As you know, times are hard. Gas prices are Page 4 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 185 up, and houses are going up. At the same time, those persons who have incomes where 186 it doesn't support that, they still have to pay those high taxes. Something about that 187 isn't fair. So, I ask this body if you would consider that and move that initiative 188 forward. Thank you. 189 190 h) Jolandra Taylor said hello Mayor and Council. On behalf of Ignite if you need flyers 191 for the Resource Fair that's coming up and you want to register, we have them for you. 192 Thank you so much. 193 194 i) Larry Brady Evans, 2112 West Princeton Avenue, said I would like to address the 195 good, the bad, and the ugly. The good is that I commend the city Public Works 196 Department. They’re constructing a new runway street down from where I reside. I'm 197 one of the last homeowners that reside in the old black neighborhood where only 198 blacks could live at that time in College Park. I want to address the city Public Works 199 Department for the work that they did to make sure that I had the service of water at 200 my home by me being the only one over there. I felt like they went out of the way to 201 make sure that a citizen of College Park got the appropriate service that is rendered to 202 all the College Park residents. I'd like to thank the Recreation Department for the work 203 that they do along with Subrenia and Rex Willis for the work that they do here in the 204 City of College Park. It is very outstanding. The bad is that rumors are going around 205 in College Park. City Hall is being shaken up by people not going in the same direction. 206 You all are employed by College Park and you all should be on the same accord to 207 wish and hope that all of College Park received the same benefits. Those who are 208 sitting on the Council and in a leadership position, they should be held accountable for 209 the work that they've been hired to do. The ugly is our Police Department. They have 210 had a wooden door that's been up there for over four months. Here in College Park, 211 we had always taken pride in our city. We host the busiest airport in the world, but our 212 Police Department looks like Mayberry if you ask me. I just like to say that I hope that 213 those who can repair that door at the police precinct do so. I thank you all for your 214 leadership and I pray that we get on the same accord of what we want for one and what 215 we want for all. Thank you. 216 217 6. Public Hearing 218 219 A. Public Hearing for an Amendment to the Comprehensive Plan. 220 221 Ms. Krzic said good evening Mayor and Council members. Our first item is an amendment to the 222 Comprehensive Plan. If you recall we had a presentation by MARTA back in March so this is a 223 targeted amendment for the bus rapid transit line that will go through Clayton County. Just a 224 reminder for everyone who may not have been involved in that meeting in the public. The reason 225 for this amendment is because MARTA is applying for federal transit administration funding and 226 this is part of the requirement not only by the City of College Park but in all of the cities where the 227 transit goes through in Clayton County to further support the goals of that funding. I am going to 228 turn it over to Ms. Anna Baggett who will walk you through some of the changes that are being 229 proposed and targeted. Thank you. Page 5 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 230 Ms. Anna Baggett said good evening Madam Mayor and Council. Thank you for having me this 231 evening. I'm Anna Baggett, I am a community planner with the consulting firm VHB here 232 representing MARTA. I'm going to walk you through some of that transit-supportive land use that 233 Ms. Krzic mentioned earlier just to give you a little bit more background. Back in March of 2020, 234 MARTA engaged in a transit-supportive land-use study for all of Clayton County surrounding two 235 proposed transit lines; one in the Southlake BRT line and that's what I’m going to talk to you about 236 tonight. The basis of that study is evaluating the land use around certain stations and proposed 237 station areas based on five elements of transit-supportive use; density, intensity, mixed-use, 238 walkability, people-oriented design, and managed parking. You're very aware of your 239 Comprehensive Plan as you recently updated yours in 2021, but these are high-level long-range 240 documents looking 10 to 20 years into the future as they are required by the State of Georgia to 241 maintain local government or qualified local government status. They must be updated every five 242 years. Since you all updated your Comprehensive Plan last year and the next update won't be until 243 2026, instead of a full-scale update, what we are talking about tonight is a Comprehensive Plan 244 amendment. Those are usually used when there is a changing circumstance and like Ms. Krzic 245 mentioned, MARTA is moving forward with the Southlake BRT project and that's bus rapid transit 246 in Clayton County; so that is the qualifying changing circumstance in this case. For College Park 247 and the Southlake BRT line, as you can see on this map up on the screen, you have three station 248 areas, and these are not specific stations. The first one is downtown College Park where you have 249 your existing MARTA station. The second is Old National station at the intersection of Old 250 National Highway and Godby Road. The third is West Fayetteville station where West Fayetteville 251 intersects with Phoenix Boulevard. The reason we are talking about a Comprehensive Plan 252 amendment this evening is that MARTA is moving forward with an application for FTA funding 253 to implement the Southlake BRT line. One of the criteria the FTA is going to look at is the transit- 254 supportive land use policy amongst the various jurisdictions along the Southlake BRT line 255 What is in the amendment? A general overview of the Southlake BRT project itself with some 256 existing conditions and preliminary concepts for the three stations, some goals and policies that go 257 along with your other goals and policies: and your Comprehensive Plan changes to your character 258 area map and some additions to your community work program. You already have TOD zoning in 259 this district, we are not recommending any changes to the character area map for this station 260 specifically, but in the Comprehensive Plan amendment, we are identifying the district and 261 providing some general information about that area. For the Old National station, we are also 262 showing some development concepts and how they meet those big five elements that I mentioned 263 earlier. We're also recommending that the character area designation for this area is changed to a 264 new character area which we're calling transit-oriented redevelopment. Similar to West 265 Fayetteville we identified the station area on a map and then also provided some illustrative 266 renderings to show what those policies look like in practice. 267 What is transit-oriented redevelopment? We use the same format that your current Comprehensive 268 Plan has for defining character areas. These are transit-supportive land uses in a mix of uses. The 269 building form would better support transit by having added density, pedestrian, and people- 270 oriented designs including better streetscapes and so forth. Related to zoning, what we're 271 recommending is TOD redevelopment, which is not an existing zoning designation. We are Page 6 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 272 proposing that in the future that be created in your zoning code. We added some new goals and 273 new policies: 274 o encourage new growth and development and station areas 275 o enhance the transit-friendly character of the Southlake BRT corridor itself as well as 276 those station areas expand 277 o enhance pedestrian infrastructure in station areas to create a comfortable walkable 278 environment 279 o reducing the amount and visibility of parking 280 o pursue transit supportive zoning regulations and protect and, 281 o promote affordable housing in station areas. 282 We also included some additional community work program items some of which we have taken 283 from your existing work program items and kind of change them a little bit to tailor them to this 284 transit-supportive land-use study. Finally in addition to your existing priority sidewalk plan list 285 that you have in your community work program already, we are adding a little tidbit about 286 prioritizing those station areas in that effort. Also in the amendment, we outlined some of the 287 community outreach we did in support of this amendment. The first was a BRT public workshop 288 held in March with all the Clayton County jurisdictions that the Southlake BRT line passes 289 through. Overall, we got 100% agreement on those proposed goals. Then we also opened up a 290 public hearing last month and received no comments. The next phase is moving through the DCA 291 and ARC approval process. That concludes my presentation. Thank you. 292 Mayor Motley Broom said at this time declares the public hearing open. If you would like to 293 discuss this particular item, feel free to come on down and share your thoughts. 294 [Public Hearing Opened] 295 Mayor Motley Broom said seeing no one approaching the podium, I’m going to declare the public 296 hearing closed. 297 [Public Hearing Closed] 298 Councilman Clay said I think this makes perfect sense. I thought it was a very thorough analysis 299 that had been gone through. The only minor question I have is why 800-foot block lengths. 300 Ms. Baggett said we found that shorter block lengths encourage walkability and connection so 301 that's why we've proposed that amount. 302 303 Councilman Carn said great project. We want to be as transportation friendly as possible 304 obviously. A lot of people think of air transportation automatically but MARTA’s a big part of it. 305 I'm excited about the more mobility that we have the more likelihood of ‘live, work, and play.’ Page 7 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 306 Councilman Allen said I think it's a great project. I think it's great for the south side and the citizens 307 of College Park and the neighboring cities. 308 Councilman Gay said was a great project. Thank you for presenting. 309 310 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from City Planner KC Krzic to 311 have an Amendment to the Comprehensive Plan, seconded by Councilman Allen 312 and motion carried. (All voted yes). 313 314 B. Public Hearing to consider a rezoning at 0 Mercer Ave from R2 - Medium Density 315 Residential to DC - Downtown Commercial. The Planning Commission heard this case at 316 their May 31, 2022, meeting. 317 318 City Planner Ms. Krzic said good evening. As stated this is a request to rezone to DC Downtown 319 Commercial. The property itself is located in the rear of 1755 Mercer Avenue and it has never 320 been developed. The project itself encompasses more parcels that will be put together. The request 321 is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan and the planning staff is recommending approval. I will 322 turn it over to the applicant to walk you through his presentation. 323 Mr. Tom Dalia came forward and introduced himself. 324 Mr. Dalia said I live in the old Fourth Ward of the City. Our development requires a lot of different 325 uses and parking etc., and it's a very valuable piece to us even though it's been landlocked for a 326 long time. We just hope that you could see the benefit of tying that entire parcel together. This is 327 the historic Pure gas station that's on the corner of West Mercer and Main and the home at 1747 328 Mercer; and then finally there's a vacant piece in a small white building that we've already applied 329 for a demolition permit. It's an abandoned piece that we need to take care of and open up the space 330 a little bit more. We had a lot of environmental issues with the site like underground tanks, and 331 some contamination from a dry cleaner that operated on the site for a while. We work closely with 332 the folks here and we were approached by the City of College Park to be sponsored for an EPA 333 grant and that grant was successful. We are now looking to replace a lot of the lead-contaminated 334 wood that was on them as soon as we obtain permits. We are going to adapt the historic gas station, 335 as you see these are examples of various adaptive use of older gas stations. We are looking to 336 create a commercial vitality to the block which is pretty much a gateway on the north side of the 337 city and we want to make an anchor for people to recognize that you've entered College Park. We 338 also want to do retail in smaller building clusters. We have been working closely with the 339 community and Economic Development to kind of determine exactly what kind of density we need 340 and what the various uses we could put into these retail areas. The next slide is more of an updated 341 site plan in which we've reduced the size of the overall development to about 11,300 square feet. 342 By doing that we've been able to reduce the parking needs for the site and so we have a much more 343 fully parked environment here.We'd still maintain about a 60 by 100-foot green space behind it 344 but the buildings are placed closely together having more of a village feel to the site that we think 345 is important. Page 8 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 346 Mayor Motley Broom said I will declare the public hearing open on this issue if you wish to speak 347 on it come on down. 348 [Public Hearing Open] 349 Mayor Motley Broom said no one appears to wish to speak on this particular topic, so I will declare 350 the public hearing closed. 351 [Public Hearing Closed] 352 Mayor Motley Broom said questions from the council? 353 Councilman Clay said I think it's fantastic to see us preserving the PURE gas station and what 354 you're doing with the property is amazing. We’re even putting to use a landlocked piece of 355 property. I'm just totally behind the project. 356 Councilman Carn said it's a great site and it's a long time coming. The preservation piece is great. 357 You're doing restaurant and retail? 358 Mr. Dalia said is a little bit more restaurant than retail. 359 Councilman Carn said what's your percentage of restaurant to retail. 360 Mr. Dalia said I would think that we could be in the 60% restaurant and 40% retail 361 Councilman Carn said so how many spaces altogether? 362 Mr. Dalia said the individual buildings can be broken up into bigger or smaller spaces. 363 Councilman Carn said best guess, three or four restaurants perhaps? 364 Mr. Dalia said we're probably talking about two to three restaurants. It really kind of depends. 365 Councilman Carn said three restaurants and maybe three retails as well. 366 Mr. Dalia said you could have six retail spaces depending on the size less than 500 to 600 square 367 feet. I think they're going to be more effective to bring the variety up and also the community has 368 some real interest but probably smaller spaces. 369 Councilman Carn said this is a project in Councilman Clay's Ward. I'm going to support whatever 370 he wants to do because he's got his Ward's best interest at heart. Parking in our neighborhoods is 371 one of our biggest problems that we're trying to avoid because there's not enough parking along 372 Main Street and I’ve seen a lot of Main Street businesses come and go. The amount of potential 373 growth and success of all of the Main Street businesses has been stunted based on the lack of 374 parking. I would strongly consider taking another look at that and 41 spaces might seem like a lot 375 for parking but the more people that can park there, the more likely they're going to patronize your 376 businesses if it's convenient for them to do so. 377 Mr. Dalia said the whole north side of the city needs redevelopment. Right across the street, there's 378 a large empty lot that would be ideal to provide some public parking opportunities. That’s going 379 to be essential to meet the concerns that you're pointing out right now. To have a public facility Page 9 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 380 that allows more development on that site in a denser development along Main Street. I've spoken 381 with Tasha, who brought it up to me as an opportunity in the future. I think it's a great idea and 382 perhaps it’ll take some public-private partnerships to make it happen but I'm willing to participate 383 as much as I can. 384 Councilman Allen said I think it's a great project. I like being able to come in from the north side 385 coming down Roosevelt Highway and seeing the little village atmosphere.I think it's a great 386 addition to College Park and I thank you for bringing it. 387 Councilman Clay said I've had conversations with Tasha, considerable conversations about 388 parking. My dream right now is to have two parking garages along Main Street.. If you're thinking 389 about the vacant lot across the tracks but on the other side of the property, that's a potential location 390 for that. I didn't bring it up here tonight because I've been bringing it up extensively but I think the 391 addition we're talking about tonight of taking that landlocked property and adding onto yours 392 makes perfect sense. It brings that property to productive use, but as far as parking goes, I agree 393 with Councilman Carn. We've got to do something and it's not just at the north end of the city, it's 394 at the south end of the city as well. We are going to need a parking garage at each end of the city. 395 If anybody goes to Savannah, they handle a huge amount of visitors there. We say we're a 396 hospitality city and I certainly believe we are but we're going to need to accommodate parking. I 397 don't think that we should be forcing it back on the citizens along the various side streets. I don't 398 see it being solved on your property per se. I have some concerns about that. It's a good opportunity 399 for an investor to come in and build a garage. 400 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from City Planner KC Krzic to 401 rezone 0 Mercer Ave from R2 – Medium Density Residential to DC – 402 Downtown Commercial, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried.(All 403 voted yes). 404 405 7. Other Business 406 407 A. Consideration of and action on a request to approve an Intergovernmental Agreement with 408 the Fulton County Board of Elections and Registration and Resolution for provisions of 409 Election Services for the November 8, 2022, Special Election. 410 411 City Clerk Ames said this is for the IGA to conduct the election and also the resolution to call the 412 election for the Homestead Tax Exemption. 413 Councilman Clay said this is a two-piece agenda item and I would like to see them treated 414 individually. In other words, we have two things to approve. 415 City Clerk Ames said correct. The IGA and the resolution. 416 Councilman Clay said I’d like to discuss each of those separately. 417 Mayor Motley Broom said is there any objection. Hearing none we'll tackle the IGA first. 418 Councilman Clay said I thought it was an interesting comment that Alicia made. We used to 419 conduct our own elections and we went to the county for two reasons. One was that it was less Page 10 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 420 work for the staff, and it was more efficient. The second reason was we had issues of people 421 objecting to the way we were conducting the election. In other words, we had our citizens or 422 sometimes council people observing the counting and so forth. I don’t know the difference in cost 423 but Alicia, thank you for bringing that up. 424 City Clerk Ames said for this particular one there is no cost to us for this election. 425 Councilman Clay said for this one that’s true because it piggybacks on the regular election. 426 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from the City Clerk Shavala Ames 427 to approve a request to enter in an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Fulton 428 County Board of Elections and Registration and Resolution for provisions of 429 Election Services for the November 8, 2022 , seconded by Councilman Carn and 430 motion carried. (All voted yes). 431 432 Mayor Motley Broom said the second item is the resolution to put the Homestead Exemption on 433 the ballot. 434 City Clerk Ames said we need to have the resolution to move forward with the actual election. 435 Fulton County will have their board of elections meeting I believe later this week and they request 436 that we have the resolution and the IGA if we would like to move forward. 437 Councilman Clay said but the resolution does not include putting on the tax exemption on the 438 ballot. 439 City Clerk Ames said the resolution is to call the election. 440 Councilman Clay said then we still have one item to approve to put onto the ballot, the Tax 441 Exemption, correct? 442 City Clerk Ames said that's all in one resolution. 443 Councilman Clay said then I have a problem with approving the resolution itself. Councilman Gay 444 to his credit, championed putting the Senior Tax Exemption on the ballot. Attorney Danielle 445 Matricardi and I were basing it on the Fulton County Exemption. In other words, everybody over 446 65 or over did not get it and there were some loopholes in it as well. So, we worked on it, got the 447 loopholes out of it for the most part and got approval by the Council for a Bill that could be given 448 to our legislative delegation. What came back from the legislature's attorney in no way compared 449 with what the Council had approved; and we approved it on a 3-2 vote. In other words, it was two 450 of us against and the Mayor made the deciding vote. 451 I agree with the people that have spoken tonight. I am very concerned about seniors being forced 452 out of their homes by rising property taxes. I've watched the value of properties in my 453 neighborhood go up sometimes 100% or 150% in the last several years. Eventually, that's going 454 to drive up the values of all the property around it. Having said that, that'll drive-up property tax. 455 The problem I have is that there are a lot of people, including myself, that shouldn’t be getting a 456 Senior Tax Exemption. It is depriving the city of revenue. For example, if you're 65 and you have 457 a million-dollar house, and I have some million-dollar houses in my Ward, you don't have to pay Page 11 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 458 any property tax to the City of College Park under this amendment. That's just plain wrong and 459 that needs to be fixed. 460 It’s my understanding that if we do not put this item on the ballot at the end of this year the Bill 461 that was signed by the Governor expires; and we have another bite of the apple or can have another 462 bite of the apple in the next legislative session. While I hate the thought of delaying the exemption 463 for seniors who could use it now, I don't think it's right to pass legislation that exempts a bunch of 464 people that don't need to be exempted. 465 Secondarily, you want to build a million-dollar house in College Park, and you’ve got another 466 house in Alpharetta. You can put grandma on the deed so that she's the principal taxpayer. Now 467 you've got a second house in College Park, with zero property taxes because grandma is on the 468 deed and she's the principal owner taxpayer. I do not want to see College Park turning into a Sun 469 City. I don't know whether people know what a Sun City is but I lived in Arizona and there are 470 some cities all over the country, but it's a society of elderly people. I never wanted to live with just 471 young people when I was younger, and I don't want to live just with elderly people now that I’m 472 older. I don't think it's healthy for the city and I think that is another side effect that will come if 473 we pass this kind of legislation. So, I do not intend to vote to put that on the ballot. I do vote that 474 we call the election. I would propose that we change the resolution and in fact, I’ll make a motion 475 that we change the resolution to call the election, but we do not put on the ballot this flawed 476 legislation that has been approved. Then I would champion along with Councilman Gay that we 477 do put it on for another bite of the apple in the next soonest available time so that we can benefit 478 the senior citizens that need it. 479 Mayor Motley Broom said a motion has been made and I want to be clear about the motion. Mr. 480 Denmark are you clear with the motion. 481 City Attorney Denmark said I believe I’m clear on the motion. 482 City Clerk Ames said can you repeat it for my record, please. 483 Councilman Clay said the motion is that we have Fulton County hold the election for us but it does 484 not include the part that says we will put senior tax exemption on this ballot. 485 Councilman Allen said my opinion when we sit up here and we vote whether we like it or not 486 sometimes you get to vote, and sometimes you don't; but once we decide, that is what's decided. 487 There's no way that I can vote on a bill going forward that is not the same bill that we approved 488 here in Council. 489 Councilman Gay said I sponsored this action about a year ago and it took about a couple of months 490 to have zoom meetings with Councilman Clay about the Bill. He gave us our support and it passed 491 3-2, Councilman Clay and the Mayor voted, and council members Allen and the former Derrick 492 Taylor voted nay. What isn't said tonight is that the cost to the city of this Bill the way that 493 Councilman Clay suggested that he supported, is $180,000. The budget we just approved was 140 494 million dollars but we're talking about the cost of the city a total of $180,000. Tonight, we're getting 495 ready to spend $190,000 on a creek near Woodward. The other point that's important to know is 496 that seniors cannot afford to pay the city property tax. What the council member isn’t telling y'all Page 12 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 497 is that when this motion was passed, we hired a lobbyist firm called Don Bolia and we gave them 498 over $75,000 to go down to the general assembly and sponsor this Bill. There were only two Bills 499 on the ballot, the M.O.S.T tax and this Bill. He was to take that Bill and take it to our legislators 500 which were William Bodie and Nan Orrick. Somehow or another, the Bill left this chamber, and 501 it never was given to Don Bolia. The ordinance that Councilman Clay and Allen are saying that 502 they're not comfortable with never left this chamber. I called the legislative council, and I said the 503 Governor's home bill says the city shall put this Bill on the referendum. It said shall that's the law 504 of the general assembly. What I suggested was to put it on the ballot and let the people vote it 505 down. It still has to be voted by the people. The other thing is that next year this body can change 506 it but let's not defy the order of the Governor. Let's not let the Governor know that this body defied 507 his order when three elected officials in the house got it approved. What does that look like in 508 College Park that all three elected officials sponsored this Bill through the house, and it got 509 approved and then this body won't take responsibility a month after the Bill was signed by the 510 Governor? Our Mayor, the former City Manager, our current interim City Manager, and the 511 delegation team went down to the capital a month before the Bill was signed. I'm putting this on 512 the record because I will call for a class-action suit because when we had this legislative delegation 513 there were only two items on the agenda. How can a team of professionals don't look at a Bill 514 before it goes to the Governor to get signed? You’re saying you don't feel comfortable signing it 515 but you don't take responsibility that this body made the error. The second thing is you're saying 516 to this community that on Jones Circle, where you campaigned there people over there who can't 517 pay their taxes in the cul-de-sac across from your house. There are old people that can't pay their 518 taxes in my Ward but it only costs $180,000. If you’re not outraged about that this body would 519 vote down $180,000 but spend 140 million dollars of your tax money. What's so sad about this is 520 that there are people who are so miserable in their decisions that they would rather you not live in 521 your house. There's a lady who owed approximately $337. She caught cancer, her brother's an 522 alcoholic and he didn’t pay her three-hundred-dollar property tax. She’s been living in that house 523 for 30 years. Her tax lien for $300 something dollars and sold for approximately $140,000 but the 524 investor was happy to buy it because the house is worth about $275,000. There are people in my 525 Ward who are so miserable that’d they rather come here and look at me and act out as if they're 526 hurting me. My family is blessed, we're fighting for you. This city should be outraged that in this 527 next election none of these people should be sitting here. When we need you, these people need 528 your leadership. 529 Councilman Carn said folks as you can see it's a very passionate subject, and rightfully so. As 530 messy as it may sound this is what you call good government. You deliberate an issue, and you 531 work around it until you come to the best decision. I care for all of our residents, and I want to see 532 the welfare of all of our residents from every corner of the city do well. I got to make an important 533 decision. Right now I’m doing it with the resident's interests in mind for all of them. I guess when 534 I was still on the county commission y'all got this thing together and last year we talked this thing 535 up. We let folks know about this much-needed relief and to that we hired a lobbyist to escort this 536 bill through the legislative process because on staff we do not have the expertise to completely do 537 that ourselves throughout this entire process. Also, our administrative staff had a role in it as well 538 and at some point, we dropped the ball. Whether it's our lobbyists that we hired or whether it was 539 an administrative issue, we dropped the ball. First of all, we have to admit a part of the issue and Page 13 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 540 the problem. It's an old saying, you cannot solve a problem that you won't acknowledge that you 541 have. 542 The other thing I will say, being on Council or being in government period, when you sit up high 543 up it's easy to point the finger at folks. What's a little bit harder is pointing the finger at yourself 544 if you made the mistake and I’m not ashamed to admit it. We made the mistake either way if it 545 was a lobbyist or our staff administration. Now when you make a mistake, no matter who you 546 are at the end of the day, you got to eat that mistake. I would recommend, that this property tax 547 exemption would apply to residents 65 and over. That's part of our most vulnerable population. 548 Now some like Ambrose said some are well off enough that they do not need a senior homestead 549 tax exemption at all. I'm going to hope that those folks that know they're well off and are blessed 550 enough will be thankful for that blessing and not take more than is needed. On the other side, 551 there are residents that are struggling. They’re deciding right now whether or not they're going to 552 pay their light bill, food, or medicine that they need because the rent and property taxes are very 553 high. Now with that being said, we've also been talking about the possibility of a property tax 554 increase in general that is needed in the city. Anybody that watched this budget process that we 555 just went through in April can see that all of our needs are not being met in terms of the level of 556 service that we want to provide for residents and in turn the level of service that residents expect 557 from us. If we make a decision on that at some later date then my hope is that the property tax 558 increase will offset those that take a senior tax exemption. If we increase property taxes that will 559 increase for residents 64 and under which is a vulnerable population but that increase will 560 supplement and offset the loss that we may incur from our more vulnerable population, 65 and 561 over. I encourage everybody in November whether this is on the ballot or not to vote. These 562 items are important. These local items are very important. Another thing, we have to keep in 563 mind is that it's hard to get the Governor to sign off on a piece of legislation for all 537 cities that 564 we have and when we get the Governor to sign off on it, you can't play around with that type of 565 stuff. 566 Councilman Clay said I wanted to say that the revenue numbers that we were talking about are 567 based on staff analysis that I don't think correlates with the exact details. Even if it's $200,000 and 568 I’m not going to get lost in the weeds, the point is those are the numbers today. If this is put on the 569 ballot it is going to pass undoubtedly. Who would not pass this legislation? There may be a few 570 but in the privacy of the voting booth, why not get my taxes reduced regardless of what my social 571 needs are. Once it's on the ballot it'll pass and once it's passed it will never be taken off. There is 572 no way that two years from now when property values have changed when a whole thing bunch 573 of things have changed there is no way anybody's going to put on the ballot something that takes 574 away the exemptions for senior citizens 65 and over. 575 Councilman Gay said first off, I don't think it's fair to tell the citizens that you're going to fraud us, 576 to assume that they’re fraudulent. Secondly, the citizens that most need this aren’t in my Ward, so 577 if anybody going to fraud the system they don't live where I am the elected official. Thirdly, this 578 body next year could change it to be 65 and our lobbyists could go to the Governor and explain 579 that we're fixing it. To not put it on the ballot is to defeat the ballot. The citizens are the final 580 arbitrator, and they hear us. When I talked to the legislative council, he said it is the law of the 581 general assembly that it shall be put on the ballot. Now that's up to your community to pursue. For 582 us to create a bill that is age 70 and has no income cap and as Selissa Jefferson pointed out in her 583 email, it's not based on how much you make anyways. But, for you to have a resolution and not Page 14 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 584 give it to the lobbyists and then somehow, it's sponsored by three elected officials and everybody 585 looking down right now as if they take no responsibility. You guys are making hundreds of 586 thousands of dollars in salaries and all we are asking for is to admit to a mistake that would cost 587 us possibly an extra $180,000. Those of you who are watching or listening tonight, they want you 588 to vote for thousands of dollars on things that don't even matter to your lives. Yet when it comes 589 to citizens who are living in this Ward for years, raising their children, seeing their spouses die, 590 living in their houses, and don't even know how they're going to pay their taxes. That's called 591 gentrification and for y'all who don't know what that means, they come into your community, you 592 can't pay your taxes, your legislator support and for all, we know you all might be buying the tax 593 liens. 594 Mayor Motley Broom said I agree Councilman Carn. I wholeheartedly agree we dropped the ball. 595 What was passed in this body that I wholeheartedly supported was not what we have right now. 596 I've already had people talking to me about switching a house into someone else's name to get a 597 tax exemption here. If the impact is broader than what's been projected because the guard rails that 598 we establish as a body do not exist, then any shortfalls would come from a property tax increase 599 that would be larger than necessary because of the lack of guard rails. Our goal was to keep seniors 600 in their homes. Those who were most vulnerable, and those who could at least afford the increases 601 that we're seeing. What's in front of us does not reflect those goals. I think we need to do it right. 602 Councilman Gay said you can put the house in your grandma’s name if she’s 70, that means 603 nothing. You just don't want to do it. You don't care about these people. 604 Councilman Carn said if I could just add one other thing from the county level. There may be at 605 some point some legislation coming up from the county level that may help to close some of those 606 loopholes you were referring to. 607 Councilman Gay said just got a text. In the 2021 tax digest for the City in Fulton County, 608 the portion of our City in Clayton County is in nearly all commercial, industrial, and apartments. 609 We have 4,626 houses. Their 40% appraised value of them is approximately $209 million. The 610 number times your millage rate of 12.69 equals 2.6 million. So the homestead part for 65 and older 611 is just 10% of that number and the residential revenue is 2.6 million or just 2 percent of your annual 612 budget. This financial analysis says I'm being loose with my numbers, but the cost would not 613 exceed $180,000. 614 615 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a resolution to call the November 8, 2022 616 election without the Homestead Tax Exemption; and to add the revised 617 Homestead Tax Exemption to the next available election, seconded by 618 Councilman Allen; Councilman Carn and Gay voted no; Mayor Motley Broom 619 voted yes and motion carried. 620 621 B. Consideration of and action on a request from Fostered Foundations to hold a 622 #CampaignCollegePark event on August 14, 2022, from 9:30 a.m., until 4:00 p.m. at Bill 623 Badgett Stadium. 624 Page 15 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 625 City Clerk Ames said this is a special event request for Foster Foundation. The representative Mr. 626 Wilson is here if you guys have any questions. He would like to utilize Badgett Stadium to do a 627 family fun day. 628 Councilman Clay said could you explain in a little more detail what the purpose of this event is. 629 Mr. Joshua Wilson said the purpose of our event is to shed light on young individuals that come 630 from the same circumstances I come from. I was raised in the foster care system and emancipated 631 from the system at the age of 17. Working with DFCS for Fulton and DeKalb County, I'm learning 632 that there's a disconnect between the families and the youth. Some of the things I've done in my 633 career; musically, having to trade, and also as a network analyst, I have a broad scope of success. 634 I did not finish college, I own a property, I’m self-educated and I’m self-driven. I believe that I 635 have the connection to reach out to the youth of College Park. The reason I chose College Park is 636 that its part of my journey on my way up. I met my foster care brother that lived in College Park, 637 and I was able to live with him for about two or three years on Constance Street. So, I wanted to 638 back step my tracks to where I first had my first family experience with my brother. I want to go 639 down to every city, every state, and reach out to the youth that comes from where I come from. 640 It's an overlooked community and I believe that the next judges, lawyers, or councilmen like 641 yourself will come out of the foster care system. I want to give them hope and partner with College 642 Park to say we haven't forgotten about you. 643 Councilman Clay said thank you for coming. I know there are a lot of problems at least from what 644 I’ve read in the newspaper with DFCS and with the foster care system. What I’m hearing is that 645 this is a way of creating a brotherhood of people in foster care. Do you hope to gather political and 646 financial assistance to improve the system? 647 Mr. Wilson said not to cut you off but I always say I can't change the system, but I can impact the 648 lives in the system. This is a community event spotlighting College Park and the fact that they 649 want to shed light on this community not only the foster care community but the youth of all ages 650 between the age of 9 and 18 years old. This day is a day of celebration. We have certain things for 651 the foster care community, in specifically they're going to meet with the police officers where it's 652 like a scavenger hunt. They have to meet with officials because we want to rebuild the relationship 653 between the youth and the government members. Just to be honest with you, I still get scared 654 sometimes when I meet officers and I have great relationships with them. 655 Councilman Clay said that's what we need, this passion. I commend you for it and I may drop in. 656 Mr. Wilson said I hope you do. This is to celebrate College Park but we’re also reaching out to the 657 whole of Fulton County and the state of Georgia. If you're here on this day we want, you to come 658 to celebrate College Park because you guys are breaking the mold and changing the way we look 659 at this game. 660 Councilman Carn said it’s good to hear about your organization. I'm not familiar with it but it 661 sounds like these are the community partners that we need in the community. If everything goes 662 well at your event, I think there may be some opportunities where there can be some other Page 16 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 663 partnerships, but this is the type of stuff we want in the community. We're looking for assets to the 664 community not looking for liabilities. 665 Mr. Wilson said if you don't mind me chiming in, I just want you to know that I’ve been a non- 666 profit for the last nine months. I am an official 501c3 and I was able to donate over 100 bikes 667 packed in my car to different foster care children across the country. I just got a partnership with 668 NIKE to do the same thing this Christmas and also have a partnership with Walmart. The 669 partnership with NIKE is a community ambassador project. 670 Councilman Allen said this is not just for foster kids, it's for any kids that want to come. 671 Mr. Wilson said correct. We wanted to be inclusive of the community. I went to a foster event in 672 College Park recently and it almost felt segregated a little bit. I want them to feel included. 673 Councilman Allen said how many people do you expect. 674 Mr. Wilson said we're hoping between 50 and 75 people at the most. I am partnering with the 675 children's services, so they are going to add this to their docket for the families to be able to sign 676 up and we're going to do some special things for the families. Also partnering with Mr. Lance from 677 the Recreation Department, he's kind of helping me facilitate what that looks like as far as do they 678 need to sign up or can they just come. 679 Councilman Gay said I’m glad that we had a chance to talk. We have a common interest in 680 Tuskegee, my alma mater. 681 Councilman Clay said do you have a flyer for the event. 682 Mr. Wilson said I’m going to print it out tonight. We did not want to do anything that could 683 jeopardize us getting approval. 684 Councilman Clay said send that to us and for sure send me an electronic copy. 685 Mr. Wilson said I would love to partner with you and see how we can get some more in-depth 686 information. 687 688 ACTION: Councilman Gay moved to approve a request from the City Clerk Shavala Ames 689 on behalf of the Fostered Foundation to hold a #CampaignCollegePark event on 690 August 14, 2022, from 9:30 a.m., until 4:00 p.m. at Bill Badgett Stadium, 691 seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All voted yes). 692 693 C. Discussion and update on top ten delinquent utility customer accounts. 694 [No comments] 695 696 D. Discussion and update on top ten delinquent property taxpayers. 697 [No comments] 698 699 E. Mayor and Council consideration of and action on a request for approval to pay invoice for 700 Lease Equipment from Motorola Solutions Credit Company, LLC, for the Police Public 701 Safety radio system in the amount of $172,561.30. Page 17 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 702 703 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from Interim Chief of Police 704 Sharis McCrary to pay an invoice for the Lease Equipment from Motorola 705 Solutions Credit Company, LLC, for the Police Public Safety radio system in 706 the amount of $172,561.30, seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. 707 (All voted yes). 708 709 F. Mayor and Council consideration of and action on a request for approval of an urgent repair 710 to replace the 150hp Chill Water Pump #1. Legacy Mechanical has provided a quote for 711 $12,065.00. This part of the chill water system is responsible for ensuring that cold water 712 circulates through the building and maintains a cool temperature. 713 714 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Mercedes Miller, Executive 715 Director of the Convention Center and Arena to approve an urgent repair to 716 replace the 150hp Chill Water Pump #1 quoted at $12,065.00 by Legacy 717 Mechanical, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. 718 719 G. Mayor and Council consideration of and action on a request for approval of a $20,000 720 contribution to return KidsFest to College Park on Saturday August 6th at the GICC. This 721 event is in conjunction with Ignite, they will sponsor a "Bookbag-Giveaway". This kid- 722 friendly entertainment focuses on fun ways to expose children to the arts, science, health, 723 and exercise in a safe indoor environment. This is not a budgeted item. 724 725 Ms. Mercedes Miller, Executive Director of GICC said evening. I have been working with 726 Councilman Carn and we are trying to do a KidsFest in conjunction with the Ignite book bag 727 giveaway. We are seeking twenty thousand dollars to host this event at the Convention Center. 728 Councilman Allen said I have one question. We're having National Night Out on the 2nd of August 729 and on the 14th, we're having the Foster Foundation event. I mean I'm for KidsFest, I just wonder 730 if there is a way that we could take that $20,000 and puts kids in our youth programs or something 731 like that. I'm just throwing that out there. 732 Councilman Clay said Mercedes, what are the services planned to be purchased with the twenty 733 thousand? 734 Ms. Miller said with twenty thousand dollars, we'll be paying for the bouncy houses, entertainment 735 for face painting, and for books to give away at the event. We're not having entertainment as we've 736 had in the past and it's downsized to less than half of what it's been in the past. 737 Councilman Clay said it's downsized to less than half money-wise. 738 Councilman Carn said let me say this, there's not going to be any entertainers in that sense but 739 we're going to have stuff for the kids. The books are educational and if we do get some other 740 corporate sponsors that are going to come in, which I'm told some are going to commit if we do it, 741 then we're going to get extra school supplies as well. You can't have enough of those. 742 Councilman Clay said there's no free food in this? Page 18 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 743 Ms. Miller said we're not giving away any food. 744 Councilman Clay said is this just for our residents? 745 Ms. Miller said it is. The anticipated attendance is about 3,000 people. It's supposed to be from 12 746 p.m. until 4 p.m. In the past, we have advertised on the radio and in print, but we would not be 747 doing that. 748 Councilman Clay said this is a College Park event for College Park residents. The book bags I 749 know are only being given out to College Park residents and we've all contributed to those. 750 751 ACTION: Councilman Gay moved to approve a $20,000 contribution to return KidsFest to 752 College Park on Saturday August 6th at the GICC in conjunction with Ignite, 753 who will sponsor a "Bookbag-Giveaway," seconded by Councilman Carn and 754 motion carried. (All voted yes). 755 756 H. Consideration of and action on a request for approval to pay Cardno Brownfield Clean Up 757 invoice in the amount of $ 172,675.95. 758 759 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Tasha Hall-Garrison to pay 760 an invoice Cardno Brownfield Clean Up in the amount of $ 172,675.95, 761 seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All voted yes). 762 763 I. Consideration of and action on a request for approval to place a four (4) way stop sign at 764 the intersection of Cambridge Ave and Victoria Street to reduce speeding and make the 765 area safer for the community while walking. 766 767 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Interim Chief of Police 768 Sharis McCrary to place a four (4) way stop sign at the intersection of Cambridge 769 Ave and Victoria Street, seconded by Councilman Allen and motion carried.(All 770 voted yes). 771 772 8. Bids, Change Order Requests and Contracts. 773 774 A. Consideration of and action on a request for bid approval of roof upgrades for Wyatt 775 Recreation Center. 776 777 Ms. Michelle Johnson, Director of Recreation & Culture said the budget was $300,000. A 778 complete roof redo is the $594,000, so option either two or three would be the better bet if we're 779 looking at either the 10-year or a 20-year. Althea and I did speak on the 20-year if we could get 780 the length on that, but the total replacement is number one. 781 Councilman Clay said if you stay within the budget, you take alternate two and do five percent of 782 the panel replacement and you’ll have a five-year warranty. 783 Ms. Johnson said it's a ten-year warranty on option two. The difference between options two and 784 three was a 20-year warranty. Page 19 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 785 Councilman Clay said you're doing the same work in those two options, it's just the overall 786 warranty correct? When I read through this,when you're getting up there and you start replacing 787 things, what happens if you find that you need to do more than just that five percent panel 788 replacement? 789 Ms. Johnson said when we had done some quotes before doing this, we went back to the 790 manufacturer who built the roof. So we were going to do a total replacement based on the roof 791 being built the same. I do have a representative with RYCARS here and he could answer any 792 technical questions, but we're looking at repairing and putting that metal roof coating on the entire 793 roof. 794 Councilman Clay said so you've looked at it enough to know that you only have to replace five 795 percent of the panels; and if you do that you are then going to coat the entire roof including the 796 new panels and the old panel right? The alternate one says 10 percent. 797 Ms. Johnson said it’s a complete roof. 798 RYCARS representative Dale Weigand said taking the roof off, all new panels, and insulation. 799 Councilman Clay said tell me why we would want to do that if we can get a 20-year warranty by 800 going over budget by $35,000. 801 Ms. Johnson said when we originally were looking at quotes before the RFP we were getting 802 different options. We went back to what the original roof was because it may not be completely 803 damaged. 804 Councilman Clay said but we can get a 20-year warranty by replacing five percent of the panels 805 and recoating the entire roof and that warranty includes parts and labor. 806 Ms. Johnson said it's a different breakdown. The warranty is a 20-year warranty with two-year on 807 the workmanship provided for that option. 808 Mr. Weigand said after that our manufacturer would have a 20-year warranty that we would 809 provide. A contractor would provide two-year workmanship. 810 Councilman Clay said if you're only replacing five percent of the panels the manufacturer is going 811 to cover the whole roof? 812 Mr. Weigand said because it's their coating system that goes on the roof. 813 Councilman Clay said it's based on the quality of the coating. 814 Mr. Weigand said it's a liquefied system and once we put it on there, it's a certain mil thickness 815 metal roof system. 816 Councilman Clay said okay. 817 Councilman Carn said looking at the 20-year total warranty, I'd rather replace the whole roof and 818 do it right. I'll feel a whole lot better about that. How old is the recreation center now? Page 20 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 819 Ms. Johnson said 13 years. 820 Councilman Carn said is a possibility that it may not be that much for the full replacement once 821 you take a look at it. 822 Ms. Johnson said they're giving us a quote through July 31st because of the cost of supplies. 823 Councilman Carn said I would rather get the whole thing done and get it done right where we won't 824 have to worry about it anymore, but that's where I’m at with it. 825 Councilman Allen said what happens to your five percent contingency? 826 Mr. Weigand said I don't believe there would be more than five percent just because we can 827 physically visually see the existing metal roof systems now. It looks like somebody's done some 828 previous repairs on it at those locations and also over at the enclosures where you have the ridge 829 cab or head wall closures. It looks like they may be having some leaking issues there. There may 830 be some carriage where you're having issues with some fasteners backing out but what we would 831 do if you chose the coating option is we'd address all the fasteners and check to make sure there 832 are no loose factors at first. 833 Councilman Gay said have there been leaks? 834 Ms. Johnson said yes there has been. 835 Councilman Gay said where does the funding come from? 836 Ms. Philord-Bradley said the initial funding came from hotel-motel tax, so I would transfer those 837 funds. 838 Councilman Clay said so if you take option two, you're only going over budget by $35,000, 839 correct? 840 Ms. Philord-Bradley said correct. 841 Councilman Allen said when did we start having leaks. 842 Ms. Johnson said I’ve been in this position two years and it's been leaking for two. 843 844 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Director of Recreation and 845 Cultural Arts Michelle Johnson for a bid approval of roof upgrades for Wyatt 846 Recreation Center in the amount of $334,910, option #3, seconded by 847 Councilman Carn; Councilman Gay voted no and motion carried. (All voted 848 yes). 849 850 B. Consideration of and action on a request for approval to renew the City's annual contract 851 with The Collaborative Firm for municipal planning services. 852 853 Councilman Clay said I understand that the rate for the contract is up 50 percent. Why don't you 854 go through the same conversation that we had. Page 21 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 855 Mr. Hightower said thanks for talking with me on Friday; and on that question I thought about that 856 Mr. Clay. I think I've been underpaid by 50 percent behind what you have been paying others. It’s 857 just the opposite as I should be saying. I've been underpaid by $50 an hour for the last several 858 years. 859 Councilman Clay said this is what I wanted everybody to hear. 860 Mr. Hightower said I mean it is an insult, to be honest with you. I thank you for your consideration 861 but it's an insult. Councilman Wyatt arbitrarily many years ago picked up my contract not to even 862 give me a reasonable raise. It's not an increase, but I've been underpaid by you guys for years. I 863 appreciate your consideration. 864 Councilman Clay said I didn’t want to just go and approve it without you saying this. 865 Mr. Hightower said I do appreciate our talk on Friday and thank you for the conversation. I thought 866 about it all weekend. What did y'all pay Sizemore for four months under the former Mayor? I mean 867 it just goes on and on and on but sometimes at home you get the worst treatment, but I appreciate 868 being here. 869 Mayor Motley Broom said thank you, Mr. Hightower. 870 871 ACTION: Councilman Gay moved to approve a request from Interim City Manager 872 Jackson Myers to renew the City's annual contract with The Collaborative Firm 873 for municipal planning services, seconded by Councilman Allen and motion 874 carried. (All voted yes). 875 876 C. Consideration of and action on an agreement between the City of College Park and Ikon 877 FilmWorks for video production services. 878 879 Councilman Carn said now this is another new thing to me since I've been back and I think we're 880 getting great coverage, don't get me wrong; but there was a time when we would do this ourselves 881 in-house with cameras or whatever. For the longest time, we weren't videotaping these council 882 meetings at all because Councilman Phillips had an issue with that. I remember he used to always 883 say we go down there to deliberate and if it's important enough for residents and they want to know 884 what's going on, they need to come down here and see what's going on. ’ In retrospect, it's 2022. 885 I'm aware of the date, we've got to move with the times. You’re our new director, right? 886 Director of Communications Jamesia Harrison said yes, I'm the new Director of Communications. 887 Councilman Carn said glad to have you on board. 888 Councilman Clay said I'm trying to figure out from somebody, what is the impact on the budget. 889 There's the scope of services and then there's the rate per hour that's being charged for the services. 890 Is the rate per hour any different than it was last year? Page 22 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 891 Ms. Harrison said the rate for service is not any different than what it was last year. We've been 892 working with Ikon Media pretty much on an invoice basis. Having a contract means that they are 893 obligated versus it being optional. 894 Councilman Carn said is what we budgeted for these services for this fiscal year going to cover it? 895 Ms. Harrison said I think it will. 896 Councilman Clay said Althea what do we have in the budget for these services? 897 Ms. Philord-Bradley said I'm not exactly sure what's in the budget however, I believe there is about 898 $50,000. I can get a firm number in about five minutes. 899 Councilman Clay said with our current plans for this fiscal year, what will the services cost us this 900 fiscal year. If we've got $50,000 in the budget for this fiscal year, will this be within budget? 901 Ms. Philord-Bradley said last year based on the information I received was about $37,000. 902 Councilman Clay said we've not expanded the scope of services dramatically at all. 903 Ms. Harrison said no, we have not expanded the scope of services. The caveat to that is that we 904 haven't fully utilized them to their full capabilities and that's something that we want to expand on 905 this year. 906 Councilman Clay said you may be doing more of things as opposed to different things. Is that true? 907 Ms. Harrison said yes and no. We're hoping to be able to capture more of that storytelling 908 component. Right now, we've primarily been using them for council events and work groups. We 909 want to branch out and use their full scope of services. 910 Councilman Carn said in addition to the additional events. I see here it looks like there's a cap of 911 24. So is that our limit for the year? If we have other events, is it going to cost us more money? 912 Mr. Hammond said what we did was we put it that recommended amount of two events per month. 913 It doesn't have to be exactly two per month, it could be one this month or three the next month. 914 We're not going to cap it to say you have to use your two every month. What we will do is we will 915 make it so that if you need more event coverage, we can make it happen. It's not an issue for us. 916 Councilman Carn said but it'll cost us more. 917 Mr. Hammond said we'll work out a prorated fee. 918 919 ACTION: Councilman Gay moved to approve a request from Communications Specialist 920 Mahersala Howard to enter into an agreement between the City of College Park 921 and Ikon FilmWorks for video production services, seconded by Councilman 922 Carn and motion carried. (All voted yes). 923 924 D. Consideration of and action to purchase 7.747 acres from MARTA 925 926 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Interim City Manager Jackson Page 23 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 927 Myers to purchase 7.747 acres from MARTA, seconded by Councilman Allen, 928 Councilman Gay opposed, and motion carried. 929 930 9. Unfinished (Old) Business. 931 932 None 933 934 10. New Business. 935 936 None 937 938 11. City Attorney’s Report. 939 940 None 941 942 12. City Manager’s Report. 943 944 Interim City Manager Jackson Myers said I would like to say that I’m glad that the Global Gateway 945 connector bridge has finally got a contract and we can start seeing some activities out there starting 946 at the MARTA station and going down John Wesley Avenue. I did have a talk with the Public 947 Works Director, and we are going to get a list of the streets and sidewalks we’re resurfacing for 948 the Mayor and Council to review by August 1st. Just a reminder, on October 1st we're going to 949 start collecting the MOST. 950 951 13. Report Of Mayor and Council. 952 953 Councilman Gay said I think I’ve said what was most important about the Senior Tax Exemption. 954 I just want to reiterate for the record that we had an opportunity to let the citizens vote it up or 955 down. I'm very disappointed at my colleagues and I want to thank Councilmember Carn for his 956 leadership. I'm not saying that because I need any favors, or I need his support because I don’t. I 957 appreciate his leadership and his maturity on this Council. We were at odds for many years, and 958 we had a conversation and he vowed to do right by the community, and I support his decision to 959 do that. I'm extremely disappointed with my colleagues and I’m not surprised. I'm very 960 disappointed with our leadership. None of you directors won't take a stance and the little money 961 y'all make is not worth not taking a stance. If you were to take a stance you would make a lot more 962 than you are making now. I was just outside, and a gentleman was saying you did all you could do 963 for this community and one day they’re gonna be real proud of the fight that you fight for them. 964 I’m extremely disappointed and I’m gonna be candid with you - you're gonna have to be careful of 965 the decisions you make because things come back at you. We have elected officials who aren’t 966 even living anymore and I’m still standing, I’m still up here. They're gone to meet their lord and 967 savior; that day will come. This life is very short but to make these decisions because of prejudice 968 or discrimination or I got the other vote, or we got the votes. That day will come. That day will 969 come, and you have to stand accountable for the decisions that you made. That's why I voted for 970 Jack Longino name to be on the building; one of the worst people to ever treat me, but God said 971 the battle is not yours. I'm still standing here, and I predict I will continue to sit here. It was very 972 disrespectful what y'all did to those citizens. You got attorneys that go out and fight for justice and Page 24 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022  973 they don't even make money. We sit here comfortably with all of this money, but we won't stand 974 up. We won't say nothing because it's not politically correct or we might miss a mortgage payment, 975 or we can't get our car paid. 976 977 When I came to College Park in 1998, I was the nationally recognized landscaper. I had been in 978 the latest Home Journal. I was featured every Sunday in the AJC garden section. People from New 979 York used to come to my home and photograph my garden because I went to Tuskegee University, 980 and I made them plant soil signs. In 1998 I went through a divorce and came to College Park with 981 my new family. I said this is going to be a great city. I am so excited to be in College Park. There 982 was a contract to redo the sign across the street at the historical building. It wasn’t a big landscape 983 contract, but I can get my foot in the door in College Park by redoing the sign. I bid and I didn't 984 get it and I said ‘okay, I got to learn the system. Then Jamestown and Phillip Park came around 985 and they needed a $450,000 contract to improve the park. I said, well I’m college educated, 986 nationally recognized and I did hundreds of thousand dollars in landscape. I bid on it, no 987 consideration. Yet, the guy who did do it, he died from a heart attack out there on those bricks. 988 But, I'm still sitting here. To this day, no African American or a woman cuts the grass at the GICC. 989 We can't even cut the grass. You may think I’m entertaining you or that he gets off seeing himself 990 talk but if you knew our struggle or how serious this was, you would be very concerned. We should 991 be very disappointed in some of the decisions that we make. I am so disappointed that in 2022. I 992 deal with men and women who won't support things that matter to people's lives but at election 993 time they’re knocking on our doors. They’re in our apartments, at our parks and then when you 994 need them, they don't show up. They use big words that we hardly understand. 995 996 Lastly, we just had a retreat, and we had a conversation about what matters. In 1998 I told my wife 997 I was going to come to the council meetings. I sat right down there, and I spent almost a week 998 putting together an international park at the 18 acres. Designed it myself. 30 years later, 999 Jamestown, the 18 acres is still blighted with dumpsters. Yet over the 30 years we've spent over a 1000 hundred million dollars. I was just in Summerville; they had a resurgence of development to where 1001 you don't even recognize the community. Whoever their leadership is, they aren’t worried about 1002 their egos. They worry about them going home telling their wife they got fools that they work with 1003 they can't get nothing done. I don't even recognize that community. It's only been four years and 1004 we've been sitting up here for eight years and this city struggles to do everything, but all you are 1005 good at is spending our money. All you do is spend our money and you give us our mandated 1006 services, that's all you do. I'm going to say, I’m not embarrassed. I'm proud of our community and 1007 I’m proud of those people that cared enough to come down here, but I’m extremely disappointed 1008 at the leadership. I pray and I will be out there knocking on doors to remind them when it was time 1009 for them to vote for you, they came up with big words. 1010 1011 [Councilman Gay exited Council Chambers at 10:10 p.m.] 1012 1013 Councilman Allen said first of all, Ms. Harrison welcome. You did a good job tonight and I 1014 appreciate it. Parks and Recreation, I think the helicopter is coming in Wednesday the 13th. So, if 1015 your kids want to come out and walk up to the helicopter, get your picture taken with a helicopter, 1016 come out. It's quite a sight to see the helicopter come in. I met this morning with some of the people 1017 from the College Park Main Street Association and we talked about bike paths and pedestrian Page 25 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 1018 safety. I think you'll probably be seeing some push to get some more bike paths or some bike lanes 1019 coming up in the near future. 1020 1021 Councilman Carn said first of all, I wanted to send our condolences out again to Ms. Hall-Garrison 1022 and her family. City Manager, I don't know if we can do something or send some flowers along 1023 those lines but let's see what we can. 1024 1025 I'm excited tonight, I’ve been following this James Webb telescope thing for the last three years. I 1026 don't know if any of y'all are familiar with it but tomorrow we're finally going to get some pictures. 1027 Some of y'all will see me with my Webb telescope lapel pin but it's a big deal tomorrow for a lot 1028 of us that do a little stargazing. The council retreat was good, I won't go into a whole lot of detail 1029 with it but the overall assessment is we got some work to do. No city is perfect and we're certainly 1030 not perfect, but we got some work to do. We're going to continue to work towards being the best 1031 city that we can for your tax paying dollars. I got some serious issues and concerns with my city 1032 council packet this time around. This might seem like a nit pic, but I have never received a packet 1033 like this ever before in my life where I couldn't find anything, and nothing was put together. I mean 1034 simple portions of the packet like the minutes are stapled together or clipped together with this set 1035 of minutes or this agenda item or whatever. Everything was a loose leaf of paperwork, and my 1036 desk is a blizzard right now. I've never gotten a packet like that before, and this is my fourth term 1037 in office. So, if we can do something about that that'd be great. In terms of votes, we have some 1038 passionate issues up here. You win some and then you lose some. You got to stand on your 1039 principles and make your best decision on that. 1040 1041 Melissa, I want to thank you so much for the warning signs at the bridge at Herschel Road. I saw 1042 them flashing today and I’m assuming that's the testing, but they looked great. I really do appreciate 1043 it. I'm very excited about Keep College Park Beautiful. I was glad to meet Ms. Kennedy. Looks 1044 like you picked a winner there. I’ll have my Board pick by the end of the week. The Global 1045 Gateway Bridge, we're going to do a groundbreaking Jackson? Did we get with GDOT for a 1046 groundbreaking ceremony with Congressman Scott? 1047 1048 Interim City Manager Myers said I was gone a couple of days this past week so I’m trying to get 1049 caught back up. 1050 1051 Councilman Carn said all right. I’d like to see that happen and I know you said we have to get 1052 GDOT green light to do it. 1053 1054 Where are we with the renaming ceremony for City Hall? I want to get an update on that at some 1055 point. I don't want it to just fall completely off the radar. In terms of minority participation, we 1056 don't contract with enough minority and female business enterprises. I was glad to see this outfit, 1057 the roofers, were an African American-owned business. 1058 1059 Last two things, Jackson I would like to see on the next agenda a Wally Park update to see where 1060 it’s at and what's going on over there. 1061 1062 Interim City Manager Myers said we just talked last Wednesday about Wally Park. I talked to the 1063 Pond company and we’re getting back together because all the people that were there disappeared. Page 26 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 1064 Just wanted to let you know that today as of today, I talked to him last week. You will find out 1065 something in about three or four weeks. 1066 1067 Councilman Carn said or if you can just get me a summary from them on where everything is, I’ll 1068 take that. I get questions from our four apartment communities along that corridor. They always 1069 ask me about that, so I’d like to be able to tell them something. 1070 1071 Mayor Motley Broom said I think I heard Mr. Myers say it might take him a little bit longer than 1072 the next meeting to get that information. 1073 1074 Councilman Carn said okay. Well as soon as we can get it the better, that'd be great. Tell them 1075 we've been waiting a long time too. 1076 1077 Councilman Clay said first off, we had a real tragedy on June 24th. A gentleman was killed crossing 1078 the tracks at Harvard and Main. I looked at the video and I don't understand how it happened. He 1079 clearly had to see the signals flashing. He clearly had to see the guardrail down. He walked 1080 diagonally across the track and was hit in the back by a train. The only thing that I thought that 1081 might have made a difference was if there was another guardrail that had come down on the east 1082 side of the track where the pedestrian walkway is. The guard rail comes down but I don't think it 1083 actually clears that pedestrian walkway. Jackson could we take a look at that and see if there's 1084 anything else that CSX could do? Maybe this was just an unavoidable accident. There are some 1085 things you just can't protect people from, but I wish we could at least take a look at it and see if 1086 there's anything else. 1087 1088 Interim City Manager Myers said I’ve even seen people crawl between the trains when it’s blocked. 1089 I mean people are gonna do what people do. We follow the Federal Railroad Administration in 1090 Washington and we've already had two inspections since this and we're right in line with the 1091 regulations. 1092 1093 Councilman Clay said we're in line with the regulation but is there a way to ask the experts if we 1094 did more than the regulation required? Is there any way that we might have avoided that accident? 1095 1096 Interim City Manager Myers said I really don't know what I can do. I know you and I talked about 1097 it but and I went and looked. I'm sorry, I don't know. I could put a concrete barricade over there 1098 on that side but then that causes them to go out into the street. 1099 1100 Councilman Clay said the next items I have is the Woman's Club is having their 125th anniversary. 1101 They’re unique among most Georgia Women's Clubs in that they own their own building and it's 1102 been in existence for a long time. They're going to be celebrating for a couple hours on September 1103 24th and they have a request in to Shavala. They want to shut down Rugby for two hours from 1104 three to five on the 24th. I've already talked to Police and Fire, they don't see it as a problem. They'd 1105 also like to put some banners up and they're willing to pay for the banners. 1106 1107 Last thing, I wanted to mention the Senior Tax Exemption. I would like staff to now move forward 1108 to take that second bite of the apple and get it right this time. We need to be on top of it and our 1109 lobbyist needs to be on top of it. Councilman Gay moved to approve the contract for our lobbyists Page 27 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 1110 this year and I was dubious to be honest, but they did a good job of getting the MOST tax through. 1111 I was very disappointed in the fact that the lobbyists didn't ensure that what we wanted was actually 1112 happening. I strongly suggest that we remind our lobbyists that this is a high priority item and we 1113 expect them to stay on top of it. 1114 1115 Mayor Motley Broom said I’ll start with where you ended. I wholeheartedly agree and I would 1116 love to see it [Homestead Tax Exemption] on our first meeting in January. I'm sure Mr. Denmark 1117 and his team will make sure that every i is dotted and t is crossed to make sure that we are keeping 1118 up with the status of the legislation as it moves under the gold dome. I think that we need to go 1119 back at it as soon as possible. 1120 1121 I appreciate all three of you being there for both days of the retreat. I think it was a good start for 1122 a reboot and I am encouraged as we move forward to continuing our conversations and continuing 1123 to strengthen our body. 1124 1125 I want to send out condolences to Commissioner Ralph Hodgins on the loss of his wife. 1126 Commissioner Hodgins has served on the Housing Authority Commission for a number of years 1127 now and we're all thinking and praying for him in his time of need. July 16, mark your calendars 1128 from 8 to 12, as there's a community clean up at all of our recreation centers and parks. I’m looking 1129 forward to seeing everyone in partnership with Keep College Park Beautiful and Recreation 1130 month. 1131 1132 I also wanted to share and send my appreciation to all of the good folks around the state who saw 1133 fit to elect me as the Third Vice President of the Georgia Municipal Association. I'm looking 1134 forward to serving in that capacity and continuing to work on behalf of this city to make sure that 1135 we are bringing home the resources that we need. We had part of that conversation at the retreat 1136 in regards to workforce development. GMA has some good resources for us to start that 1137 conversation and the partnership with the Georgia Municipal Association is an important one. 1138 1139 14. Executive Session. 1140 1141 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve Bank Settlement with the terms as outline, 1142 seconded by Councilman Allen and motion carried. (Councilman Gay absent for 1143 the vote). 1144 1145 15. Approval of Executive Session Minutes. 1146 1147 [Postponed for the August 1st, 2022 Regular Session] 1148 1149 16. Adjournment. 1150 1151 Mayor Motley Broom adjourned regular session at 10:30 p.m. 1152 1153 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 1154 1155 Page 28 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022 1156 _________________________ 1157 Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor 1158 1159 1160 1161 1162 ATTEST: 1163 1164 1165 ________________________ 1166 Shavala Ames, City Clerk 1167 1168 Page 29 of 29 Regular Session 07/11/2022