City Council

1 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 2 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL 3 REGULAR SESSION 4 DECEMBER 5, 2022 5 6 MINUTES 7 8 Present: Mayor Bianca Motley Broom; Councilmen Ambrose Clay, Joe Carn, Ken Allen 9 Roderick Gay; City Attorney Winston Denmark, Interim City Manager Jackson 10 Myers; City Clerk Shavala Ames 11 12 Absent: None 13 14 Mayor Motley Broom called the meeting to order at 5:00 p.m. 15 16 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to take up an Executive Session to discuss real estate, 17 litigation and cyber security, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. 18 19 Executive Session ended at 6:24 p.m. 20 21 Mayor Motley Broom called Regular Session to order at 7:32 p.m. 22 23 1. Opening Ceremonies. 24 25 A. Pledge of allegiance to the flag. 26 27 B. Invocation by Chaplin McKenzie 28 29 2. Additions, Deletions, Amendments, Or Changes To The Agenda. 30 31 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to add item 9a. Financial In-Kind Contribution, seconded 32 by Councilman Clay and motion carried. 33 34 3. Presentation Of Minutes Of City Council. 35 36 A. Regular Session held on November 21, 2022. 37 38 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Regular Session Minutes dated November 21, 39 2022, seconded by Councilman Carn with corrections and motion carried: 40 41 Packet Page, line 447 “due” not “viewed” 42 Packet Page, line 592 “As” not “with” 43 44 4. Proclamations, Resolutions, Plaques, And Announcements. 45 Page 1 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 46 A. 2022 GRPA NFL Flag Football Proclamation 47 B. 2022 GRPA Volleyball State Champion 48 C. Elder Reverend Carolyn Berniece Walker 49 D. Sharis McCrary – Interim Chief of Police Proclamation 50 E. Introduction of New Employees – November 2022 51 52 Gary Dubose Recreation Department 53 Trevae Tayor Convention Center 54 Requita VanDuvall Convention Center 55 F. Employee of the Month – November 2022 56 57 Willis Moody Purchasing Department 58 59 5. Remarks Of Citizens. 60 61 a) Rose Stewart said I’m Executive Director of IGNITE Resource Center. I hope you all are 62 having a good evening. The purpose of me standing here this evening is to present our end of 63 the year report. I have with us today some of our board members; April Wyatt, we have our 64 volunteer Eleanor and Andrea, and one of our night staff Mr. Anderson. I have some 65 announcements that we wanted to make regarding IGNITE Resource Center. IGNITE is 66 proud to announce some of our activities that we have been participating in this year and 67 hosted this year. Throughout the year we had a Ready to Succeed family literacy project, a 68 Birthright by Legacy Academy for teens in the area, where we were teaching them leadership 69 skills. We have a women's clothing closet that we are supporting for women who are trying 70 to go back into the workforce. So, we want to help those women have adequate clothing so 71 that they can return to work. We hosted a city-wide back to school resource fair, a shoe 72 giveaway, and we also hosted College Park Cares Thanksgiving giveaway. Also, our senior 73 dignity program; and these are programs that we are hosting every year, and we served over 74 6,000 persons this year in those events. We're proud to say that some of those things that we 75 did we had referrals for food, we provided assistance with utilities and rent, we provided 76 financial and homeowner workshops, we provided legal assistance to homeless, and fire 77 victims. We help those people who were displaced by issues in their households so that they 78 could find adequate living. We are so grateful that we were able to have at least 340 79 volunteers work with us along with partner organizations, corporate sponsors, and donors. 80 These volunteers and sponsors helped to make our efforts a success. We also want to publicly 81 issue our appreciation and honor to our family and our CEO Jamelle McKenzie who also 82 serves as founder and director of the College Parks Chaplaincy Corporation and chair of the 83 city’s Business Industrial Development Authority which is BIDA. Some of the things about 84 Ms. McKenzie that I would like for you to know, this year she was inducted into the Chick- 85 fil-A 10-month impact accelerator cohort, which consisted of 15 leaders throughout the USA 86 who were having their skills sharpened on how to positively transform cities and the 87 communities that they serve. Ms. McKenzie’s involvement in her first few months of the 88 cohort has resulted in our Adullam organization being awarded a very generous Grant from 89 Chick-fil-A. Recently Ms. McKenzie was featured by the College Park Skyhawks and 90 Skyhawks NBA G League team as College Park's Hometown hero to at their opening game Page 2 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022  91 of the season on November 4th. She was also awarded a proclamation by Fulton County for 92 her service to the citizens’ governments and organizations in our county. Whereas Chairman 93 Pitts declared November the 14th as Jamelle McKenzie Appreciation Day in Fulton County 94 this past Friday. It just continues to go on and on with the contributions that she makes. This 95 past Friday Ms. McKenzie was featured on CBS channel 46 Atlanta news first representing 96 IGNITE College Park Resource Center, the City of College Park, and her new mental health 97 initiative that will assist thousands of persons dealing with mental health issues in our 98 community. Finally, we are so excited for our upcoming ventures the 2nd Believe Again 99 mental health gala that's going to be held on Sunday. We also have our senior Secret Santa 100 and our adopted family College Park Cares for the holiday program that will be held at the 101 Tracey Wyatt Recreation Center on December 20th through the 22nd. During these programs 102 we will provide gifts and tokens to those persons who are going to be attending and we're 103 expecting over 300 people in this area. I would like to personally thank everyone and invite 104 you as we continue to serve College Park and the surrounding area. Thank you so much. 105 106 b) (Read verbatim by City Clerk) Pamela Gay wrote Dear Mayor and Council. My name 107 is.Pamela Gay. I live on Fredericksburg Dr. I'm the first lady of Ward 4, daughter of an iconic 108 Freedom Rider, granddaughter to white tycoon coal distributor and also granddaughter to 109 black farmers. I normally do not immortalized my titles but now it's the perfect time to show 110 my hand and influence. As I listen to council meetings, week after week, especially the coucil 111 meeting on 11/2/22. Things are going from bad to worst for the good City of College Park, 112 Georgia. College Park residents have pleading with Mayor and Coucils not to increase 113 property taxes. This is a sad day for college park especially when Mayor, and Councilman 114 Clay have decided to vote for this increase. Mayor, when you ran for mayor, you put on your 115 best outfit and stated that you were going to bring equality, justice and a great quality of life 116 for the City of College Park. Your tenure has been anything but that. You have deceive time 117 and time again the people of College Park. You fight against a world class community center 118 for entire city, senior tax exemption sign by the governor should have been honor instead of 119 amended the tax that is mean tested, Ward 4 Festival and now you voted for higher property 120 taxes for the whole city of College Park, Georgia. As the world and our City of College Park 121 is coming out of Covid, now we are facing the following: Inflation, Gas price sorrowing, 122 Increase in food cost, Housing and financial increases. If you do not want to use our voices 123 then we do not want you all. We matter, the people of College Park matters. Mayor Bianca 124 Motley Broom doesn't think that Gas and Groceries are too high. The Mayor have voted to 125 raise property taxes for the people of College Park,. The Mayor gave 900,000 thousands of 126 dollars to a group to of people who are looking for a creek but raising taxes on the people of 127 our great City of College Park, Georgia. 128 129 c) (Read verbatim by City Clerk) Demetrius Taylor wrote Greetings all elected officials, I am 130 Demetris Taylor, Secretary and Parliamentarian of The College Park Citizens Association 131 and I reside in the Embarcadero Club Apartments in Ward 2. First, I want to say a GRAND 132 THANK YOU for the Christmas parade. Though I was unable to attend, AND I found out 133 about it at the last minute, I did see some of the footage and though it was a rainy day, THE 134 SPIRIT of the event was VIBRANT!! Thank you for keeping the tradition alive. Next, I want 135 to ask, When was the last time anyone from public works traveled THE CITY and cleaned 136 the drains? We are in the FALL SEASON and leaves are everywhere causing mini floods Page 3 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 137 and pools of water throughout our streets and intersections that can wreak havoc on 138 communities. They say still waters run deep and if we don't take care of this flooding and 139 pooling of water, we will set ourselves up to have many unnecessary accidents. 36 140 MINUTES, REALLY??? I am CERTAIN THAT MY Councilman did not agree to such 141 foolishness as HE is one who continuously states that IT"S THE PEOPLE from whom we 142 need to hear!! I'm SURE he was OUTVOTED on this and I am REQUESTING...and even 143 DEMANDING that you reconsider this for public comments! How is that fair that YOU 144 ONLY HEAR FROM US for 36 MINUTES TOTAL when we are subjected to YOU until 145 the gavel goes down??? Also, Can someone let the people know WHO is responsible for 146 making sure all of our developers are ON POINT with their contractual agreements? With 147 what we are experiencing with The Hawthorne Station, and the debacle we had with The First 148 United Methodist Church a couple years back, when will the citizens know WHO is really 149 doing what they promised to do and if they are on point with their target dates. And Finally, 150 it is embarrassing to have an exchange on Social Media about misspellings and wrong 151 information coming from our COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT when they are 152 supposed to be the PROFESSIONALS as COMMUNICATING! Now, I may seem a little 153 insensitive but ONE THING we MUST always do is PROOFREAD EVERYTHING 154 BEFORE IT GOES OUT as the City's and one's PERSONAL REPUTATION is at stake. 155 Thank God this was NOT A PRINTED FLYER where monies were paid and then it had to 156 be REDONE. Let's DO BETTER so we can BE BETTER! Thank you for your time and I 157 am EXPECTING ANSWERS 158 159 d) Larry Brady Evans of 2112 West Princeton Avenue said good evening Mayor and Council, I 160 like to greet you all tonight with peace and understanding and I pray by almighty God that 161 every word that comes forth from my mouth tonight to not allow one word to be taken from 162 his proper place by the mockery makers and criticized system. My name is Larry Brady 163 Evans. I reside at 2112 West Princeton Avenue, College Park, Georgia. Thanks to the City 164 Council, city officials, and all the city employees who has made this season a great holiday 165 season with love, joy, and happiness. I pray that spirit continue in the hearts of those who are 166 residents of College Park and the leaders of College Park, as well as employees. Let that spirit 167 linger in your heart the rest of your life. That would make College Park very nice. I want to 168 give a thanks to former Mayor Jack P. Longino and to the City Council for naming the street 169 that's being constructed from Camp Creek Parkway through the old Lottie Miller projects to 170 naming it Lottie Miller homes. We give a special thanks to you all for that but it's a little 171 bittersweet. It's sweet that you all had a compassion to remember those who lived in that 172 community that you all are establishing to call Six West. The bitter is that those of us who 173 lost our way, I should say that was shot down with the bullet of progress and we still suffer 174 in that community. It would never be back the way it was, and we don't expect it to, but it 175 still lives in the mind of those who live there. It grows there and learn the ways of life there. 176 We carry that to heart deeply rooted in our hearts and souls. I'm sure you are wherever you're 177 from, you may feel the same way about your childhood in a place that you hold very dear in 178 heart because I heard one lady say she was off to see the wizard and she said there's no place 179 like home and I feel that as well. I'd like to thank you, but I would like to say is there anyone 180 in this chamber tonight will allow me their three minutes, will you please raise your hand? 181 Thank you, thank you so kindly. I don't think it'll take three minutes to say it, but I thank you 182 all and we do suffer. I hope we can go forward from here to make this city a better city. We Page 4 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 183 are the gateway to the world and they say if you go anywhere, you got to go through College 184 Park to get to anywhere in the world. Let us be an example to the world that we love life, and 185 we respect others, and we carry that in our lives. To the all the city officials and people who 186 are here, Happy Holidays. I hope Santa brings you all the good luck and treats that you want 187 in this world. Happy New Year. Thank you all. 188 6. Other Business 189 190 A. Consideration of and action on a request on direction from the Municipal Court Operations 191 Update from Judge Monica Ewing. 192 193 Municipal Court Judge Monica Ewing said good evening. I'm here this evening to recommend that 194 the City of College Park amend its organizational chart to separate the municipal court from the 195 Police Department. They would service in two different departments. There are a lot of recent rulings 196 that have determined that having a municipal court staff supervised by the Chief of Police presents 197 an obvious conflict of interest and at best an obvious appearance of impropriety to the public. In 198 2017, GMA included language that recommended no municipal court personnel be supervised by the 199 Police Department. This gives a perception to the public that the odds are stacked against them if 200 they are aware of the fact that the Police Department actually supervises and oversees the court 201 operations. I believe it's in the best interest of the City of College Park to address this issue by 202 separating the two departments. There can be discussions as to who would be the department head. 203 Some jurisdictions use the chief judge, some use the court administrator, and I don't come before you 204 with any preference on that. It would be a matter of whatever the decision would be made. 205 206 Councilman Clay said I think that everything Judge Ewing said made sense when I read her letter. 207 There may be some administrative issues, so if we move it out of the Police Department which I 208 think is good in the sense of separation of powers, both from a practical and from an appearance 209 standpoint, and probably from a legal standpoint at some point. The person that would be in charge 210 of the department would be the chief judge, is that correct? 211 212 Judge Ewing said it can be. It's done in several different ways. Some jurisdictions it's the chief judge 213 or it's a court administrator. It may just be a determination of how the city would want to staff that. 214 215 Councilman Clay said the administrative aspect of it is that we contract with the judges on a yearly 216 basis and somehow I think you want more stability than that. I don't know whether that means that 217 the chief judge would be hired. The concept of a judge also being an employee as opposed to a 218 contract makes me wonder what the appearance aspect would be. If we bring in an administrator that 219 would be a position that would report to the City Manager I presume. That person would not be a 220 judge per se, they would not be making legal decisions. They would be making administrative 221 decisions with regard to how the court has to run efficiently, effectively, and legally, is that correct? 222 223 Judge Ewing said right, and I've never approached this body with requesting a longer contract. That 224 really isn't the impetus. It could work in either capacity. In Fulton County those judges are employees 225 of the county and the Supreme Court of Georgia those judges are employees. So, a judge being an 226 employee would not be an unusual situation. 227 228 Councilman Clay said I would hope that the employee would be an employee for longer than a one- Page 5 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 229 year contract. 230 231 Judge Ewing said if the city chose to keep it that way then we would need to have a court 232 administrator who would become a regular employee for the city. 233 234 Councilman Carn said thank you Judge for coming. I think the departments do need to be separated, 235 that's a safer way to do it. I understand that in the Ferguson ruling that in any form of government, 236 the judicial branch cannot be controlled by law enforcement. I'm not so gung-ho about establishing 237 another position and another salary but whatever takes place I think we need to separate things. I 238 think the easiest thing to do would make it a department like some of the other cities are headed by 239 the current contracted judge. One of the things I looked at in your information on the fourth 240 paragraph, give me some more information or detail about this technology and where it came from. 241 242 Judge Ewing said I came to College Park in 2012 and when I first came the court needed to be 243 updated from a technology standpoint. There had been a recent decision by the State legislature to 244 allow us as judges to create what was called a court technology fund. By doing so, we were allowed 245 to add up to $25 per citation to create a new bucket. From a budget standpoint, how the court fines 246 work, there are buckets where we're required to put certain amounts in, and so this would create a 247 new bucket that would be for court technology. That allowed me to self-fund all of the technology 248 improvements of the court at the time and it continues or is supposed to continue to allow me to do 249 that long term. I'm collecting that money for that purpose but over time what happens is because we 250 are under the Police Department and our budget is a sub budget under the PD, that money has 251 somehow become a part of the Police Department's budget and those funds are utilized in the ways 252 that the Police Department chooses to use them. That is the very legislation that created that which 253 makes that my responsibility. So, should we ever get audited, I'm the one who's going to be 254 challenged about the usage of the funds. We've raised hundreds of thousands of dollars since I've 255 been here in that fund. We don't need that much money in the court as our technology is not that 256 complicated but what we've been able to do in the past and in other jurisdictions is to work together 257 with PD and the things that the PD needs if we can justify it. At one point Councilman Carn, you 258 may recall we were able to approve the cameras downtown to come out of the fund because we could 259 argue that the cameras were recording data that somehow could become evidence before the court. 260 So, we have some flexibility but when it's used to buy police cars and all kinds of other things, I can't 261 justify that. The challenge I've had is that I can't get an honest answer about it. This is not against 262 any one person, this is 10 years of an issue. If I say we need this in the court or I want to use a 263 technology fund, I'll hear oh there's no money in that or you can't access that. So, my frustration with 264 that is we can't use it properly. I have to stop collecting it because I'm responsible for that. I don't 265 want any smoke. I'm just trying to do my job, stay out of the politics but this right here we have to 266 fix it. Either it has to become available for us to use in court the way it's intended, or we have to stop 267 collecting that fund. 268 269 Councilman Carn said state law puts that into the court's purview for technology related court stuff. 270 When COVID was going on, I was Fulton County Commissioner then and I understand our courts 271 were just sheer turmoil. 272 273 Judge Ewing said not in College Park. 274 Page 6 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 275 Councilman Carn said well, I'm glad to hear that and I wasn't aware of what was going on. I 276 understand we're virtual now? Can you talk about how that is compared to what before COVID? 277 278 Judge Ewing said when we started having the issues with COVID it was pretty obvious for those of 279 us that do what we do we. I actually can't stand Zoom and I can have as many as 200 people on a 280 calendar at a time. I knew for me that it was going to make me nauseous with all that activity. I 281 actually went to someone who does software development and I said can you fix or create something 282 I can use that meets all the constitutional requirements that Zoom doesn't so that’s encrypted and it's 283 safe. So this company got excited about it and created a system called iCourt and we were one of the 284 first cities to launch it. We started using it in September of 2020 and we've never stopped. So, every 285 time you heard about the county shutting down and all the other jurisdictions shutting their courts 286 down, we have never stopped having court to this day. We’ve had personnel issues where we've had 287 to stop because we didn't have enough people, or we didn't have the people that were certified 288 administratively, and we had to pause until we could get people in place, but when it came to the 289 pandemic or anything else that was happening, we have been able to carry on. I have a bill for right 290 now for $20,000 that I need to get paid out of court technology fund and that issue just continues to 291 recycle. I say I have this bill that I have to take it to PD. I have to remember to get it to them at a 292 certain window because I'm not a department head so I'm not accustomed to that process to remind 293 them it needs to be in the budget so that we can pay the bill. Then there's sometimes pushback telling 294 me there's no money in the fund which we've never used so that doesn't make sense. 295 296 Councilman Carn said I had a few questions that I sent the City Manager before you came up, but 297 I've realized that some of those questions that you cannot answer. It's between Finance and the Police 298 Department. I got some of the answers, but I want to make sure I just get the complete understanding 299 of those numbers that I'm asking for. It's been over 10 years that you've been with us and I know 300 there's some stuff that we can't talk about out here but I think obviously we need to talk about that. 301 Thank you for all the service. 302 303 Councilman Allen said first of all, thank you for your service. In reading this and listening to you, I 304 totally agree with everything you're saying. Can you use the technology funds to pay an administrator 305 out of those funds or are you restricted? 306 307 Judge Ewing said I think if we had hired our own personal IT person in court, which wouldn't be a 308 bad idea now that we're fully virtual. I made that proposal to another jurisdiction as well. I believe 309 that if it was an IT person specifically there to maintain the operation of the court systems that we 310 use, that could be funded by the court technology fund. 311 312 Councilman Allen said I totally agree with you. I believe it should be kept separate. I think it's just a 313 matter of us getting together with legal, the City Manager and Finance and coming up with a way. It 314 might not happen until next budget, but I think we need to kind of work on this. 315 316 Councilman Gay said good evening. I'm not that knowledgeable of a lot of the issues you're saying 317 so I wouldn't be able to vote tonight on a consideration and an action to amend the organizational 318 chart. I would like to say that I think there should be more discussion with our IT director as well as 319 our police leadership, City Manager and City Attorney because obviously they would have more 320 intelligence about what you're asking. As much as I like you, I wouldn't be able to just vote on this Page 7 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 321 because I'm not that pressed on what you're saying. 322 323 Mayor Motley Broom said I think I heard consensus from Councilman Clay, Carn, and Allen. Is 324 there consensus from the body to have Mr. Myers further explore the division of these two 325 departments? 326 327 Councilman Carn said there’s consensus for a separation and how that happens. 328 329 Mayor Motley Broom said I think that would be something that would fall to the City Manager. I 330 hear consensus that we want to explore that a little bit more and see what it looks like. 331 332 Mr. Myers said yes, that's why I called the meeting with the Judge. I also called the City Attorney, 333 and we had a meeting. We wanted to make sure where the city was in this process. I requested her 334 here to plead her case even though she's a judge. 335 336 Mr. Denmark said I think we need to move with some haste to make these things happen. Obviously, 337 the council is going to deliberate on this, and you want a good recommendation but, I think it's 338 coming from the staff to give you the information tools to make a decision sooner rather than later. 339 I'm not certain if these issues should wait. 340 341 Mayor Motley Broom said I would agree. Mr. Myers, if we can take this up at the next meeting if 342 there can be a recommendation, is that possible? 343 344 Mr. Myers said everything’s possible. I'll do the best I can with all parties concerned. 345 346 Judge Ewing said for clarity, can I add one more thing. The people that work in court with me are 347 Police Department employees. They are civilian Police Department employees. I don't know why 348 that would be something we have to really talk a lot about. That shouldn't be, and they really should 349 be employees of the municipal court. When it comes to IT, IT supports our department like they do 350 yours. College Park IT teams simply manages if our internet goes out or if we have issues with our 351 court operating. They are not involved in the operation of the iCourt system at all. We pay iCourt a 352 separate fee to provide us with IT support for that software. 353 354 Councilman Clay said if IT is not involved with iCourt system, how does that system connect to your 355 legal organization? 356 357 Judge Ewing said we purchased an entirely different computer system because none of our computers 358 had cameras on it. Many of our staff do virtual court in the courtroom because the clerks are still 359 coming into court every day. So, we had to get computers that had cameras as we did not have the 360 technology for that. iCourt is like an app so it's a separate system. It doesn't connect it or doesn't use 361 anything associated with College Park except internet. 362 363 Councilman Clay said does it connect through our network? 364 365 Judge Ewing said it does. It's just an internet-based software. The only thing that comes into the city 366 is Syscon and that's our court operating system. iCourt is just the virtual court system. All of the stuff Page 8 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 367 we've always stored, people's histories, people's private information is still in Syscon and is still 368 encrypted through the city. None of that changes. 369 370 Councilman Clay said if we shut down the firewall, you can still connect and conduct court? 371 372 Judge Ewing said that's correct. 373 374 Councilman Clay said who pays your internet? 375 376 Judge Ewing said I don’t know. 377 378 Councilman Clay said the reason I'm being difficult about this is that we had malware attacks a 379 couple years ago. I think we were down for like a day and a half compared to Atlanta that was down 380 for months. I'm sorry for giving you a hard time but I just don't think it's a good idea to exclude the 381 IT department at least in that area of communication. 382 383 Judge Ewing said absolutely. The purpose for my statement to ask you not to invite them was simply 384 to make sure you understood who's doing what. 385 386 Councilman Carn said City Attorney, there's a consensus to separate. We've got to figure out the how 387 with the City Manager. We always do a lot of consensuses up here. Should we make that a vote in 388 terms of what our intentions are or should we just leave it at that? I’ve heard many elected officials 389 say we do too many consensuses up here. I want our intent on the record in terms of what we're trying 390 to do here. I would like to make a motion along those lines that it's the intent to separate and have 391 City Manager start to look into that. I think it'd be good to have that on record as a vote. 392 393 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve a request from Judge Monica Ewing to separate 394 the College Park Municipal Court and the College Park Police Department and 395 discuss that process with staff, seconded by Councilman Gay, Councilman Allen 396 voted no, Councilman Clay abstained and motion carried. 397 398 Councilman Gay said I had a question. 399 400 Mayor Motley Broom said I apologize Councilman Gay. 401 402 Councilman Gay said I was trying to address the last item regarding Judge’s salary. I'm happy to 403 discuss it tonight if it's okay with the body. That was a question to my colleagues. 404 405 Mayor Motley Broom said I would think that having the conversation about how we're actually going 406 to do this and who would be in charge of this department it without understanding who that person 407 is and what their duties are going to be seems to be an incomplete conversation regarding 408 compensation. 409 410 Councilman Gay said what department? 411 412 Mayor Motley Broom said one of the things that Judge Ewing brought up was that a municipal court Page 9 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 413 can either be run by the chief judge or the chief administrator. I would think that if the chief judge is 414 the one who is running the, that would be compensation that would be in addition to what they're 415 doing in terms of running the courtroom itself on a day-to-day basis. So, we would have to have the 416 conversation twice. 417 418 Judge Ewing said I do understand what the Mayor is saying. That was my whole point of bringing 419 the issue up. It's been 11 years and the salary that I am paid now is the salary paid 11 years ago 420 without any cost of living increases of any kind. The former person in my position when I started 421 made $20,000 more than I do now. I've now been here 11 years and so I'm coming back around to 422 say has it been a while enough for us to try to address that? 423 424 Councilman Carn said I remember when we appointed our first female fire chief of this city and there 425 was a consensus to hire the person that was well qualified. When it came to salary there was a 426 discrepancy and I won't call any names, a lot of y'all weren’t even here but I think it was completely 427 unfair. No way this person is going to be paid the equal amount that the male former person was 428 paid, and I made sure that happened because we want equity and we want fairness. I don't want 429 anyone to leave this meeting with the impression that the last judge who was a male who received a 430 payment and salaries and this person, this woman who has been here 11 years with us is not getting 431 consideration. Regardless if we have a chief administrator or not, the judge has to be properly 432 compensated and if our male judge was properly compensated, a female judge and first female judge, 433 I might add, should be properly compensated. 434 435 B. Consideration and action on a request for approval of Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Budget 436 Close-Out. 437 438 Councilman Carn said it’s a small thing, the Public Works department with the ARPA funds, were 439 they included in terms of front line? 440 441 Director of Finance and Accounting Althea Philord-Bradley said no, only police and fire. 442 Councilman Gay said I just want to say for those who are listening that on package page 38, the 443 total revenue for the proposed budget fiscal year 2021-2022, am I reading that right that's $143 444 million? 445 446 Mayor Motley Broom said in regard to that $143,960,000. That is comprised of different funds, is 447 that correct? 448 449 Ms. Philord-Bradley said yes. It's about 20 funds. 450 451 Mayor Motley Broom said and all of those funds, do they go into what our residents may see on a 452 daily basis? 453 454 Ms. Philord-Bradley said with the exception of electric, sanitation and their utility services. The 455 general funds budget is $37,682,830 and that's primarily what goes to the city operations. 456 457 Mayor Motley Broom said the general fund of 37 million is Police, Fire, Public Works and Page 10 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 458 Recreation. 459 460 Ms. Philord-Bradley said yes, also HR, Finance, etc. 461 462 Councilman Carn said packet page 39, the hospitality line. The $11,242 can you give me the big 463 chunks of that? 464 465 Ms. Philord-Bradley said that’s hotel motel tax dollars. Those funds are transferred out to pay debt 466 services and the Arena and GICC. That even supplements the general fund budget by the $2.5 467 million. $2 million goes to DMO. 468 469 Councilman Gay said I want to be clear that it’s not my intent when I make those comments. I think 470 the average citizen doesn't know the difference one way or the other. I just want to say that $143 471 million came through this city's conference. 472 473 Mayor Motley Broom said in regard to restrictions on those funds, we can't use $143 million for 474 whatever we want is that a fair statement? 475 476 Ms. Philord-Bradley said that is correct. We have a special revenue and grant funds that have to be 477 used for specific purposes. So, they cannot be used for anything other than that. Even the car rental 478 tax funds, they have to be used for specific purposes. 479 480 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from Director of Finance & Accounting 481 Althea Philord-Bradley for the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Budget Close-Out Resolution 482 2022-34, seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All voted yes). 483 484 7. Bids, Change Order Requests and Contracts. 485 486 A. Consideration and action on a request for approval for the purchase of 10 bypass switches 487 for Nova Reclosers in the purchase amount $37,530. 488 489 ACTION: Councilman Gay moved to approve a request from Power Director Hugh Richardson 490 for the purchase of 10 Bypass Switches for Nova Reclosers in the amount of $37,530, 491 seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All voted yes). 492 493 B. Consideration of and action on a request for authorization to issue credits to commercial 494 accounts that have cooling towers. 495 496 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request of authorization from Power Director 497 Hugh Richardson to issue credits to commercial accounts that have cooling towers to 498 the amount of $91,903.68, seconded by Councilman Allen and motion carried. (All 499 500 voted yes). 501 502 C. Consideration of and action on a request for approval to for Sunbelt Rentals to set-up the 503 by-pass pump at the Southwest Lift Station to prevent the pumps from being damaged. Page 11 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 504 This is an emergency repair. 505 506 Councilman Clay said this has already been done, is that correct? 507 508 Interim Director of Public Works Tim Lewis said yes sir. 509 510 Councilman Clay said the amount that we're approving tonight, is that equipment still installed there? 511 512 Mr. Lewis said no, the bypass pump has been removed. 513 514 Councilman Clay said so it was just there temporarily until we could fix the other pump that was 515 leaking? 516 517 Mr. Lewis said yes sir. We had we had two spools that were leaking inside the basement, and we had 518 to expose and replace. 519 520 Councilman Clay said I apologize. I never sent you a heads up and I don't know why but we're here. 521 We constantly are having problems with this lift station. This is where we are pursuing a grant. Right 522 Jackson? 523 524 Mr. Myers said yes. I've talked to the GEFA about it because that's what GEFA does is water, sewer, 525 and storm. There's a lot of things I've done behind the scenes. 526 527 Councilman Clay said but we do have a grant in the works? 528 529 Mr. Myers said we have a grant that doesn't cover it. 530 531 Councilman Clay said we appreciate the problem and are trying to get that lift station basically 532 rebuilt. 533 534 Mr. Myers said it’s got things in that the station that I haven't seen since 1972. 535 536 Councilman Clay said I appreciate you guys working on that issue. We’ve got to get that grant or get 537 money somewhere and get that thing rebuilt. 538 539 ACTION: Councilman Gay moved to approve a request from Interim Public Works Director 540 Timothy Lewis for Sunbelt Rentals to set-up a by-pass pump at the Southwest Lift 541 Station in the amount of $53,263.14, seconded by Councilman Clay and motion 542 carried. (All voted yes). 543 544 D. Consideration of and Action on a request for approval to replace an 8-inch sanitary sewer 545 main at 1457 Virginia Avenue and relocate existing sewer main from under the building 546 and install new manhole. 547 548 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from Interim Public Works Director Page 12 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 549 Timothy Lewis to replace an 8-inch sanitary sewer main at 1457 Virginia Avenue and 550 relocate existing sewer main from under the building and install new manhole in the 551 amount of $88,010, seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. (All voted 552 yes). 553 554 8. Unfinished (Old) Business. 555 [None] 556 557 9. New Business. 558 559 A. In-Kind Contribution 560 561 Councilman Carn said I wanted to take a minute to talk about this and I thought it was something 562 that we should discuss. I understand that the City of College Park has received a significant 563 contribution from the online retail giant, Amazon. I was told we received $30,000 worth of Christmas 564 toys for our kids in the city. That's what you call a blessing. I know firsthand the kind of worry and 565 stress of making sure that you're able to get them toys that they want and mostly deserve while at the 566 same time trying to meet all your obligations to your bills. We get contributions of some kind every 567 year from some of our community partners but this gift dwarfs just about anything that we've received 568 as a city since I've been here in office. We're obviously very grateful and very thankful considering 569 cost of living and inflation right now. 570 571 I wanted us to discuss this as a group in terms of the best way to distribute this city gift and not 572 someone's personal gift. I have two Christmas events scheduled in Ward 2, December 17th and 573 December 21st. The fire truck visit we've had is a great thing last year except for the rain but it was 574 nice. All of our kids would still appreciate that visit but for my community a drive-by at 10:30 in the 575 morning, I don't know but it may not be the best way to bring gifts to my kids. I'm only speaking for 576 my preference in terms of distribution when we get something like this. We tend to have a more 577 family-oriented event in my community done inside of the apartment clubhouses. We have a meal 578 of some sort, we set up a tree and decorate. We try to provide enough presents for everybody, but we 579 usually run out before every kid gets what they want. That has worked for my community, and it's 580 worked for us since 2005 because I've had community meetings and I asked them what kind of event 581 do y'all want. We're not a one-size fits-all city. My kids love to see Santa Claus just like anybody 582 else but my Santa Claus for my community event may not look like your Santa Claus and that's okay 583 because we're a diverse city. We're more diverse than East Point, Union City, South Fulton and all 584 of those combined. I'm only speaking for myself but I want to try to figure out something that works 585 for everybody and not say here's what we're doing and that’s that. I could tell you what I need which 586 I have those two events and I need coverage with toys for those events. 587 588 Mayor Motley Broom said let me provide a little insight because the folks at Amazon reached out 589 specifically having seen this event last year and said that they wanted to participate. The money 590 actually was not given to the City of College Park but to the College Park Main Street Association. 591 They are a non-profit and that's where the money went. The intention for Amazon and their generous 592 $35,000 donation was to fund this particular event that was what they intended the money to be for. 593 594 Councilman Carn said I'm fine with doing this event. One of my Christmas parties is the same day Page 13 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 595 as the event and all I am asking is that I have toys for my event on that day and the 21st. Now based 596 on the round table, the schedule that you put together, if you can get $35,000 worth of toys out at all 597 those events, great. What I need from this event and Amazon can still do it if you want to have the 598 fire truck deliver the toys, that's great but at 10:30, I wouldn't want a handful of kids to be out to get 599 toys if we're having an event on the inside with the kids and the parents. They would be much more 600 appreciative of the delivery that way. I don't want to stop the event at all. If you all can make the 601 drop early so that we get the toys and we have our events scheduled for the time that we have it. 602 Every year we're struggling to find toys for the Christmas event. 603 604 Councilman Allen said let me mention that the last couple of years, I’ve been part of this. My wife 605 has made me dress up like an elf and ride on the fire truck. The fire truck goes through every single 606 ward and went through every single apartment. I don't know how to do it between 9 and 12 as it's 607 usually a lot longer than that but when the fire truck hits the siren there's a lot of kids that come out 608 and are very excited that they can pick a toy. It hit every one of the apartments in my ward. We've 609 had events at the Tracy Wyatt Center where people have come and picked up presents that were not 610 citizens of College Park. I think this is good because it goes out, they get a chance to see Santa Claus. 611 I think that we need to look at some of the other programs we got and see if we can get other sponsors 612 for other programs. 613 614 Councilman Carn said Ken, I agree, and I want to keep it. I want to make sure the fire truck hits Ward 615 2 apartments as well. All I'm asking is how the toys are given and for what I need for my community 616 events. If they’re toys left over that's how these apartment complexes would like to receive them in 617 this way. 618 619 Mayor Motley Broom said if there are toys left over then we can have that conversation. 620 621 Councilman Carn said well, I want to have that conversation. That's why I brought it up and I put it 622 on the agenda. I don't want to stop the delivery I want it to cover everywhere. I had plans and I was 623 looking for toys. Nobody on Council knew about this until they popped up on the agenda which I'm 624 glad it did but a lot of times when we get stuff like this, it's good to discuss it and figure out the best 625 way to get the toys to the kids. This is a great way but so are the Christmas events that we have 626 traditionally, and we can never seem to get toys for that. 627 628 Councilman Allen said if somebody was sponsoring your event, I don't think I should get part of that 629 for my ward. 630 631 Councilman Carn said I don't disagree and it's going towards that event. The only difference here 632 would be the two deliveries at the two apartments that I happen to be having events at. All I'm asking 633 is that the delivery be a few hours later and the other one is set for the 21st. 634 635 Mayor Motley Broom said I want to make sure that the intention of Amazon's contribution is for 636 this event. I am concerned that if we start doing different things with it that we will be in a position 637 to not be a beneficiary next year. I want to make sure that we are good stewards of this and do it. If 638 there is an opportunity afterwards or other things that we have the chance to do, I think that's great, 639 but I think that we need to prioritize the support for the event that was intended. 640 Page 14 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 641 Councilman Carn said I understand it but Amazon also intended for those toys to get to our young 642 people as well. At 10:30 in the morning, my kids aren't going to get to the number of toys that they 643 need for the number of kids that we have. 644 645 Councilman Gay said my only issue with it is that anytime a corporation provides an in-kind donation 646 to a group that's not the city or to the city, I just think it's only in the best interest for everybody to 647 know about it. It’s just a matter of courtesy. The problem I got with Ward 4 is that I'm so hands on 648 in my ward. I know every house in my ward and I don't want any organization coming into Ward 4 649 and not giving the council member the courtesy. You come there with a fire truck which is the city 650 fire truck, and you make it into a joint city and public event. It's just like our festival where we raise 651 money, but we give every dime away and we do all that we can to make sure everybody come. We 652 don't want to look like one person that's a member of the historic College Park is in our ward giving 653 out gifts. It makes us look little. Whoever is to organize this event contact council member Gay and 654 let's discuss what routes and who's going to get what in Ward 4 because I can better tell you who 655 may be in need. 656 657 Councilman Carn said my ask is for a little bit more coverage for what I was doing, and I was unaware 658 of this. We all were unaware of this. Even if it went to Main Street, Main Street is a part of this city. 659 We're going to use the fire truck, that's great. All I ask again, I want to make sure our kids are 660 accommodated. If we have an in-kind donation we need to talk about it regardless of if it came 661 through Main Street to BIDA to the Planning Commission, Police Department or whoever, it's 662 coming to this city and we need to talk about it. I would like a conclusion to this because this is our 663 last meeting, and I would like some toys for my two events. I want to make sure that if there's a 664 consensus to get me some additional ones. If the fire trucks come to the apartments, that's great. Let's 665 say they don't distribute the toys, they can come say hello and Santa Claus can give out some candy 666 canes and a couple of hours later we're having our Christmas event with those same toys that can be 667 saved for that. 668 669 Mayor Motley Broom said the Amazon trucks are following the fire truck. 670 671 Councilman Carn said they can drop them off right there and we can have our event a few hours 672 later at 2900. 673 674 Mayor Motley Broom said I think the intent is to put it in the hands of children at the time and so is 675 there consensus to see if we have leftover toys then we can have that discussion. I can't tell you if 676 we're going to have toys left over. 677 678 Councilman Gay said that there's a consensus but I want to make sure that those toys reach 679 community that I'm aware of. Don't just show up with the trucks. Somebody tell me who, when, 680 what, and where beforehand. I didn't even know anything, but I'd be remiss if I come out and saw 681 y'all driving around. 682 683 Councilman Carn said if I'd have known, I would have said 10:30 in the morning isn't exactly going 684 to work if we want to reach the number of kids in the community. I know at 10:30 in the morning all 685 my kids aren't up. The problem is you didn't talk to us about it. 686 Page 15 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 687 Mayor Motley Broom said I didn't set the schedule. 688 689 Councilman Carn said whoever did, if they don't have the understanding from this body that we are 690 grateful for these gifts, but they might want to coordinate with all of the council members in the 691 wards. I'm just trying to make sure the kids get the toys at the right time. I would like some of those 692 to be put aside for the two events that I already had planned. 693 694 Mayor Motley Broom said I would be in support of working to see what we've got left over because 695 we do the event and if we have toys left over then we can distribute them. But, setting them aside 696 when that wasn't the intention of the contributor, and the sponsor puts us in a position where they 697 may not be amenable to supporting us in the future. 698 699 Councilman Carn said but Mayor, the intention of the distributor and the contributor was also to get 700 the toys to the children in College Park. If kids aren't up at 10:30 to get the toys it defeats the purpose 701 of coming around and making the deliveries. 702 703 Mayor Motley Broom said if the kids aren’t up, we’ll have extras. 704 705 Councilman Carn said you just said you would take a look and see if you have extras. I know that 706 you would have extras, I just want to make sure that they're delivered. I don't want to see someone 707 to arbitrarily make sure that they're none left. 708 709 Councilman Gay said City Manager, can you give other council members more details about when 710 this is going to take place so that we can participate. 711 712 Mayor Motley Broom said it's on Saturday, December 17th. I think Ms. Johnson set up the schedule 713 and we can have a conversation with her and try to iron out the details to make sure that we are 714 covering ground appropriately within the city. 715 716 Councilman Carn said we should have done that beforehand. None of us knew about this. 717 Communication, which is one of the biggest issues we have up here, and something is dictated to our 718 ward that we have no knowledge about. 719 720 Mayor Motley Broom said this has been on the calendar. 721 722 Councilman Carn said that’s great but none of us knew about it and no one put it on our calendars. 723 You didn't make us aware. 724 725 Mayor Motley Broom said I am not your secretary. I promise you, I'm not and there are things 726 available on our website. 727 728 Councilman Carn said this wasn't on the website. 729 730 Mayor Motley Broom said yes, it has been on our website. This has been on our website for months. 731 We are at a point right now where we need to make a determination. Is there a motion? Is there a 732 motion to get the toys distributed in the Santa Claus is Coming to Town Event and if there are Page 16 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 733 leftovers we will distribute them accordingly throughout the wards? 734 735 Councilman Gay said I need to change the route for ward 4. This doesn't work for us, and you can 736 look at me all you want but it's not fair. If I had came in here with $35,000 worth of toys it'll be a 737 different conversation. Have Michelle Johnson or whomever get with me and modify this route. 738 739 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve a Christmas toy giveaway as scheduled with the 740 proviso that toys that are left over will be distributed to council, seconded by 741 Councilman Gay - motion was withdrawn by Councilman Carn. 742 743 Councilman Clay said I just hope Amazon's not listening to this. There's so many things that are 744 screwed up about this. I totally agree with lack of communication. I think if we've accepted a gift 745 from a donor and we've agreed that this is what we're going to do with it, I think that's what we ought 746 to do with it. Whether there will be toys left over or not, whether the route is right or not, Amazon 747 bought in. If I were the donor I'd be a little bit upset if that's what we agreed on and that's not what 748 happened. I'm really ticked off in general at this point. I'm sorry, I don't think this speaks well of us. 749 I think it should be done with whatever way we agreed with the donor to accept the donation. 750 However it was agreed, that's the way it ought to be done and if we ain't going to do it that way then 751 maybe we should give back the gift. 752 753 Councilman Carn said I'm willing to reinstate my motion. I wanted to hear Ambrose's discussion so 754 Shavala I'm making the same motion I made before. 755 756 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve a Christmas toy giveaway as scheduled and if 757 toys are left over, those toys will be disbursed evenly between council, seconded by 758 Councilman Gay, Councilman Clay and Allen voted no, Mayor Motley Broom 759 voted no, motion failed. 760 761 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a Christmas toy giveaway and distribute the toys 762 as discussed by Amazon, seconded by Councilman Gay and motion carried. (All 763 voted yes). 764 765 10. City Attorney’s Report. 766 767 City Attorney Winston Denmark said it's the last meeting of the year, merry Christmas and Happy 768 New Year. 769 770 11. City Manager’s Report. 771 772 Interim City Manager Jackson Myers said Santa Claus is coming to town. We talked about Council 773 approval for the energy discount and the tariffs on October 3rd, 2022. The senior rates have been 774 revised. The solar power panel project over there at the public safety building went quite well. I want 775 to thank Michael Hicks. They worked diligently into 3 o'clock in the morning last Wednesday to 776 make sure that when the power got shut off over there and that the solar power kicked in. We didn't 777 have problems. I gave all of you a picture of formerly known Rhodes Street Bridge. We went out 778 and took some various photos of the bridge and that was just Chief Elmore and his command staff. Page 17 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 779 You could see the size of the bridge by the size of the fire truck. The 46th Christmas Parade went 780 quite well. We had plenty of participation in it. 781 782 12. Report Of Mayor And Council. 783 784 Councilman Clay said I'd like to start by wishing everybody a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and 785 safe peaceful holiday. Secondly, I'm really excited about what's happening with Six West, the 786 pedestrian bridge, and with the car bridge. It's just going to be amazing, and I think it is going to do 787 a lot for moving development along in Six West and I'm very encouraged about that. 788 789 The next thing, there is an app, and I don't know whether I should muddy the water with this but I'm 790 going to. There is an app that is called What 3 Words, it's a strange name. What it does, the people 791 have divided the surface of the Earth into 10-foot square chunks of territory. Every last inch of the 792 Earth has been divided that way so instead of thinking of latitude and longitude, think of a square 793 that’s 10 feet square, that has been assigned a name like dog, pig, cow, or smart, dumb, happy. It 794 may not make any sense to you yet. As it turns out, Police Departments and emergency services and 795 all sorts of people have adopted this. You go to your phone you bring up the app and you point to a 796 spot on the screen like where your house is, and you get three words. You can take those three words 797 and you can text them to an emergency services dispatch and that uniquely identifies a 10-foot square 798 area. It doesn't require you to somehow look up longitude and latitude and send seven or eight digits. 799 I know it sounds crazy and it sounded crazy to me too when I saw it but apparently there are 800 emergency service departments, Police Departments, and dispatches that are adopting this and in fact 801 when people contact emergency services, they send them a link and they can send the location. 802 You've run out of gas? You can send that location via a three-word code that the app gives you and 803 that tells the emergency service or the fire department or whoever exactly where you're located. 804 805 I have been totally frustrated with the iNotify and I know Michael Hicks is working on that and we're 806 considering perhaps a different approach. I don't even know whether this is of an approach that would 807 work for us too, but you could say exactly the spot that you're talking about with this capability. I 808 know it sounds crazy but don't spend a lot of time on it but just look at it. I just hope everybody has 809 a good holiday and I hope we come back refreshed and ready to do some good work. 810 811 Councilman Carn said that's something I've never heard of. I'm kind of a dinosaur when it comes to 812 the technology. One thing I have asked about that iNotify. I asked for a direct phone line or a physical 813 version of iNotify for two months, which was four different council meetings. I'm assuming we 814 finally got a number, again communications is the problem. It's great to finally have a iNotify phone 815 number that you can dial but what good does a phone number do if no one has the phone number. I 816 don't see it on the website. I don't see it on the television station. I walk in City Hall and the lobby 817 looks great. You got these great photos of our wonderful staff up there, our employees of the month, 818 it's great. But what residents would also like to see when they walk into City Hall is a sign or several 819 signs that read if you have a city issue or concern call this number to reach someone with Customer 820 Service. When I asked for that phone number, I had the caveat to make sure that somebody is picking 821 up that phone. Our Customer Service here, it needs some work. We have it so nicely decorated, that's 822 great but let's make sure there's some other things in there that residents can actually use that would 823 help them out a little bit. I want to see that number on the website and there's no reason why it 824 shouldn't have been on it. I want to see that number on the television station and there's no reason Page 18 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 825 that shouldn't have been on there. I'm glad to see that the QR scan that goes to folks that can register 826 for the senior citizens discount page that is fillable. The text needs to be a little larger for seniors to 827 read so they can understand. Some residents called me and said I couldn't send the ID. So let's make 828 that more obvious on that fillable page. 829 830 A couple other things, I saw around the city there's a big pothole at Godby Road and Scofield. If 831 you're on that corner you can't miss it. Hopefully we can get that filled. We talked about drainage 832 but what do we do when drains or grate is clogged inside of an apartment community? Is that on us 833 to clear that grate? 834 835 Mr. Myers said no, it’s private. 836 837 Councilman Carn said if Code Enforcement sees that, they should be making sure that they're doing 838 that if the apartments aren't doing that. I've seen a lot of clogged drains throughout these apartments 839 when I went out yesterday, but we got some work to do over there. I've got a major flooding issue 840 over at Camp Creek on the access road at the bridge into the apartments. On the side of where the 841 billboard is, there's a huge, little mini lake that forms and I don't know if we can drill some kind of 842 drainage pipe to take it back into the grass? 843 844 (Inaudible from the gallery) 845 846 Mr. Myers said I believe we was talking about John Azar's property. 847 848 Councilman Carn said I guess we need to get permission but if you can send some kind of pipe back 849 to the creek that way it drains out. We can go out there one day and I could just show you my thought 850 about it. We had a wonderful Christmas parade event. I was there and we had lots of kids there. The 851 weather cooperated for the most part. I wanted to take a minute out to personally thank Michelle 852 Johnson for the work that she did with parks and rec. I want to thank the Police Department for their 853 work in coordinating that. Tomorrow's Election Day. There's a runoff election. Folks we got to make 854 sure we get out and vote. It makes a difference in our communities. 855 856 We always talk about staff expectations up here and I'm looking forward to staff expectations in the 857 New Year. This is our last council meeting, and we want staff to meet expectations, but the question 858 is how can staff meet expectations if they don't know what the city council and this body's 859 expectations are? There's a lot we don't know in terms of what's going on in our departments as we 860 don't get department updates. There will be more questions up here in 2023 and we expect the 861 answers and the job to get done. It’s our job to represent these citizens and our community in a 862 professional manner and an effective manner. The biggest problem we have up here is a lack of 863 communication. That last agenda item would not have happened the way it happened if we were all 864 communicating with one another. How we present ourselves to the world is important because we're 865 a world-class city. We've got a pretty sizable international airport just a few blocks outside of this 866 building. If this was an airplane flight and you're the passengers, how would you like having to listen 867 to the captain, the co-captain, and the navigator argue and fight over which direction we're headed 868 in. We need to do a better job up here and I'm going to commit to do better next year. 869 Page 19 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 870 We're going to be looking at selecting the City Manager in the beginning of the year and hopefully 871 we can get things together. Everybody up here has a vision and direction they want to go in. I have 872 a vision for this city as well and they're things that I want to see happen. One of the big things for 873 2023 is to bring us back to the standards and the qualities that we used to have in the City of College 874 Park. Years ago this was an airport village, which meant a lot of our airport employees chose to live 875 in College Park because of the convenience, the cleanliness, and the quality of housing. I want to 876 bring us back to the standards where the quality of our multi family was. I'm not pointing the finger 877 in any department heads nor at City Manager. It's on us and if it's not getting it done, it's our issue. 878 We're the part of the problem. 879 880 Councilman Allen said first of all I wish everybody a Happy Holiday, safe driving or flying and 881 enjoy your family. I echo what Councilman Carn said, tomorrow's the last day to vote. So get out 882 and vote. I appreciate that we had a couple of two or three great events, Light up the City on the 28th, 883 Christmas parade, and the Coffee with a Cop on Virginia Avenue. It was a great event. A lot of 884 people were stopping having coffee with the cops. I appreciate everything they did. I want to 885 welcome the new Police Chief, if there's anything we can do please let us know. Michael Hicks, 886 congratulations on your award it’s very well deserved. 887 888 Councilman Gay said well I also like to wish everyone here and watching a Happy Holiday. I want 889 to acknowledge that Rocklyn Homes and Hawthorne Station is having a lease-to-own as well as a 890 purchase and rental. Sunday was their kickoff. They are a lot of people there and I think they're going 891 to be having more of it so those city employees, first responders who would like home ownership 892 maybe an opportunity there. I like to apologize for not being at the Christmas events. I have two 893 school-aged children, so I was out of town with one of them and another event with the other. We 894 do have a rude business that I continue to ask Code Enforcement and I.T to enforce. I don't know 895 what it's gonna take for them to enforce it. I don't know if it's going to take me to bring the entire 896 community down here. I'm asking you publicly to enforce the ordinance. 897 898 Mayor Motley Broom said I also want to extend my congratulations and welcome back to Chief 899 Rogers. We are happy to have you and look forward to your leadership within the Police Department. 900 I also want to congratulate Mr. Hicks on his Local Smart Award. It's a great achievement and we are 901 so proud of you. Thank you for all that you do to help support our city with Information Technology. 902 I also want to thank everyone for coming out and watching the town hall that we had right before 903 Thanksgiving. If you missed it, it’s available on our YouTube page. We talked about budget, the City 904 Manager search and we also talked about Finding the Flint project and other developments that are 905 going on within the city. I also want to thank our Fulton County D.A Fani Willis, Commissioner 906 Khadijah Abdur Rahman, Gen Care, AARP and all of the people who participated in our Senior 907 Summit last week. It was a fantastic event and we had a great opportunity to engage with our seniors 908 and provide information. Grand Master Moreland was there at the very end talking about self- 909 defense. Thank you Councilman Carn for stopping by. It was really good time and we look forward 910 to the third annual Senior Summit next fall. I want to thank Recreation, Police, Fire, and 911 Communications for all of your hard work on our parade. I think we had three cameras out there 912 getting all the different views of the parade. Our 46th annual parade was bigger and better than ever, Page 20 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 913 slightly wetter than last year, but we made it happen; and we all got through it and I want to thank 914 all the participants. The North Clayton Marching Eagles got the mayor's award, I want to congratulate 915 them. They tagged me on Instagram, and I responded back but I want to also publicly say 916 congratulations. They did a great job as well. Light up College Park event was magical and better 917 than last year. I believe there's still time I think to vote on your favorite tree. All the money goes to 918 a worthy non-profit in the community, so please get out there to vote for your favorite tree. 919 Tomorrow morning, I’m headed up to DC. The Housing and Urban Development department has 920 invited me to join a panel tomorrow on institutional investors in housing. It’s an issue that is really 921 hitting us hard here and so folks from across the country are talking about how we address this issue 922 and solutions that we can all share. I want to thank Amazon for their support of Santa Claus is Coming 923 to Town. They saw what we did last year and wanted to get behind it and I am grateful for their 924 support of this initiative. This started out of COVID because we couldn't do the parade and we wanted 925 to bring some level of holiday cheer to the kids in our community. Last year we got some folks who 926 were able to assist us with toys and Amazon wanted to build on that blessing. I thank them from the 927 bottom of my heart because we know that this one's going to be the best yet. We've got voting 928 tomorrow, please get out if you have not voted yet. Every vote counts. So stand in line if you have 929 to. Make it your plan to get out there. You’ve got one choice to make when you get to the booth. If 930 you are over 75, you can jump the line and you don't have to stand in line. 931 932 I had the chance to go down to the South Park Cottages and it was incredible. I want to show a little 933 bit of a video of a woman named Lisa Williams whose life got changed yesterday. 934 935 (Video was played) 936 937 Yesterday, Ms. Williams got the warranty deed for one of the micro homes on Godby Road. She 938 wrote a 500-word essay about her new home, and she was selected out of more than 1,200 people 939 who signed up. The developer of South Park Cottages, Booker T. Washington, wanted to make sure 940 that he was impacting our community and he said, I'm going to give away one of these homes, and 941 he gave it away to Ms. Williams. It is one of the most amazing and heartfelt things that I've ever seen 942 in my life. I think it speaks to what happens when you have developers who come into a community 943 who actually care about the community and want to be a part of the community and want to invest 944 in the community. We have seen folks who want to figure out what they can get out of College Park. 945 Booker and his group wants to see what they can put in College Park. They want to see how they can 946 make this a better place. I'm excited that Ms. Williams is going to be a member of our community. I 947 am grateful to South Park Cottages for their generosity. I think there could not be a better way to 948 celebrate the holiday season than for Ms. Williams who has struggled at various points in her life to 949 be the newest homeowner in the City of College Park. As we look forward to 2023, I hope we do so 950 through our windshield and not our rear-view mirror, because our rear-view mirror is awfully small; 951 and our windshield is awfully big. I wish all of you the blessings, peace, and the joy of the holiday 952 season and I hope that it continues throughout your home and your families for the entirety of the 953 year. 954 955 13. Executive Session. 956 957 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve the Townsend settlement, seconded by Page 21 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022 958 Councilman Clay and motioned carried. (All voted yes). 959 960 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve a land swap with the Gin Group with tax parcels 961 130037LL0019130023LL0617 and on our end 130029LL0696 & 130029LL704, 962 seconded by Councilman Allen and motion carried. (All voted yes). 963 964 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Cyber Security A in the amount of $40,840, 965 seconded Councilman Allen and motion carried. (All voted yes). 966 967 14. Approval of Executive Session Minutes. 968 969 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Executive Session Minutes dated December 5, 970 2022, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All voted yes). 971 972 15. Adjournment. 973 974 Mayor Motley Broom declared the regular session adjourned at 10:17 p.m. 975 976 977 978 979 980 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 981 982 983 _________________________ 984 Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor 985 986 987 988 989 ATTEST: 990 991 992 ________________________ 993 Shavala Ames, City Clerk 994 995 996 997 998 Page 22 of 22 Regular Session 12/05/2022