City Council

1 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 2 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL 3 REGULAR SESSION 4 APRIL 3, 2023 5 6 MINUTES 7 8 Present: Mayor Bianca Motley Broom; Councilmen Ambrose Clay, Joe Carn, Ken Allen 9 and Roderick Gay; City Manager Stanley Hawthorne; City Attorney Winston 10 Denmark; City Clerk Shavala Ames 11 Absent: None 12 Mayor Motley Broom called the regular session to order at 7:30 p.m. 13 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Good evening, and welcome to the regularly scheduled meeting 14 of the Mayor and City Council of the city of College Park. I'm Mayor Bianca Motley Broom. It 15 is 8:03 p.m., we have a full quorum with Council Members Clay, Carn, Allen, and Gay present. 16 So, at this time, I will call the meeting to order. 17 1. Opening Ceremonies. 18 19 A. Pledge of allegiance to the flag. 20 21 B. Invocation by Chaplin Walker. 22 23 2. Additions, Deletions, Amendments, Or Changes To The Agenda. 24 25 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Mr. Myers, any additions, deletions, amendments, or changes to 26 the agenda? I know Mr. Hawthorn is here and we are so glad to have him here. It is his first day 27 as City Manager in the great city of College Park. But, Mr. Hawthorn, if you were prepared to 28 answer that question, I will hand it to you. 29 30 MR. HAWTHORNE: Well, he told me what to say, Mayor. No additions or deletions. 31 32 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. Any additions, deletions, amendments or changes from 33 the Body? 34 35 COUNCILMAN CARN: I have a potential addition. I think this might have been overlooked. 36 Jackson, I know we talked about having a budget discussion, and you had set it for the March 37 20th meeting. I guess it probably fell through the cracks, but I don't know if there's time tonight, 38 but I think it's important enough to make a little time for it in terms of just in general. I think 39 most of us got our books. But I just wanted to talk about, in general, before we start in on our 40 budget, we would usually have some type of discussion in terms of expectations, what direction 41 we're looking to go in, and the like. If you all remember last year's budget was a little bit 42 tumultuous, more or less. So I'd like to discuss it. I really think it's important if we can get 43 through all this other stuff pretty quickly. 44 45 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: We'll put that in the City Manager's report. 46 47 COUNCILMAN CARN: Well, as long as it's a full discussion with everyone, that's fine. 48 49 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: We can add that to the City Manager's report. Any others? 50 Hearing none, is there a motion? 51 52 COUNCILMAN CARN: Motion. 53 54 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Carn. Is there a second? 55 56 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Second. 57 58 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. All those in favor? 59 60 RESPONSE: AYE. 61 62 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, gentlemen. That is unanimous. 63 64 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to add Budget Discussion to the City Manager’s report, 65 seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. 66 67 3. Presentation Of Minutes Of City Council. 68 69 A. Regular Session held on March 20, 2023. 70 71 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: We'll move onto item 3(a) which is approval of the regular 72 session minutes from March 20th. Is there a motion to approve? 73 74 COUNCILMAN CLAY: So moved. 75 76 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. Is there a second? 77 78 COUNCILMAN CARN: Second. 79 80 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Carn. All those in favor? 81 82 RESPONSE: AYE. 83 84 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, gentlemen. That is unanimous. 85 86 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Regular Session Minutes dated March 20, 87 2023, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. Regular Session Page 2 of 33 04/03/2023  88 89 90 91 B. Work Session held on March 20, 2023. 92 93 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Item 3(b) is approval of the workshop session minutes from 94 March 20th. Is there a motion to approve? 95 96 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Move to approve. 97 98 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. Is there a second? 99 100 COUNCILMAN CARN: Second. 101 102 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Carn. All those in favor? 103 104 RESPONSE: AYE. 105 106 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, gentlemen. That is unanimous as well. We are onto 107 proclamations, resolutions, plaques, and announcements. 108 109 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Workshop Session Minutes dated March 20, 110 2023, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. 111 112 4. Proclamations, Resolutions, Plaques, And Announcements. 113 114 A. Presentation of a Proclamation to Jackson Myers in appreciation of his dedicated service 115 to the City of College Park as Interim City Manager. 116 B. Presentation of a Proclamation to the Georgia Resilience and Opportunity Fund. 117 C. Presentation of a proclamation designating April 23-29, 2023 as “Georgia Cities Week” 118 in the City of College Park. See supporting documentation. 119 D. Introduction of New Employees - March 2023 120 E. Presentation of City All-Star of the Month - March 2023 - Quintin Hill – College Park 121 Police Department 122 5. Remarks Of Citizens. 123 124 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: We are moving on to remarks of citizens. Ms. Ames, can you lay 125 out the parameters and let us know if anyone signed up. 126 127 MS. AMES: If you were able to sign in before 7, I can read your name and your topic of 128 discussion. If you emailed your comment in before 7, I can read your email comment. If you did 129 not get a chance to sign in or send an email, you can speak after all of the comments have been 130 heard for three minutes. 131 132 The first comment I have is from, I believe it's from Jennifer Boswell and Stasey Whichel, but 133 they were with Evergreen Solutions. So I'm going to skip those two. The next one I have is from Regular Session Page 3 of 33 04/03/2023 134 Matt Long, RSG, to discuss contractor payment project. Oh, okay. And Stacy Steward and Jason 135 Stanfield is also with that group. 136 The next comment I have is Jamelle McKenzie, 2447 Odell Way to discuss College Park. 137 138 MS. MCKENZIE: Good evening, everyone. My name is Jamelle McKenzie. I live at 2447 Odell 139 Way and I'm just here to just talk about some great things going on in our city. First of all, I want 140 to welcome Mr. Hawthorn to our city. I'm a community person, and on behalf of the community, 141 we are so happy to have you here. So we just want to say welcome, welcome, welcome, and 142 we've been looking forward to you getting here. 143 144 I also want to say a very special thank you to my friend Jackson Myers for holding it down. You 145 did a fantastic job, Jackson. And I know we've already, you know, given you some props, but we 146 really thank you for holding the city together during this time as our interim manager. Jackson 147 had a lot of things he went through, but he still stayed steady, and just, we really appreciate you. 148 Also, on March 25th, we had like an amazing citywide clean up. And I wanted to thank Ms. 149 Francis Kennedy and her team. We got people out in the neighborhood. And, also, I want to 150 thank my neighbors from the Links and we had some other neighbors in Ward 1 that were out, 151 and we're just picking up trash. I just am grateful for the city having this type of event that we 152 can, as citizens, make it known that we want to have a beautiful College Park. So I just want to 153 thank everybody for that. 154 155 I also enjoyed Dr. Chisulo's presentation. He's been working on that for a long time, and I want 156 to say thank you to the Council Members for, you know, your remarks today regarding that, and 157 really looking forward to how we can bring even more unity to this amazing community. Also, I 158 want to thank the grow fund people. I knew they were going to be on today for that the fact that 159 now we have 204 women in the city of College Park that can breathe. I had the opportunity to 160 work with In Her Hands, along with Ignite, and identifying these women and we're just so 161 excited because these women now are receiving this $850 a month, we're not getting as many 162 phone calls because they don't need us for certain things that they may have needed us before. 163 164 So we're able to concentrate on some other programs that we can bring to persons. So we're very 165 excited about those women in our community that are receiving that. And, lastly, I wanted to say 166 that this coming week, we're getting ready for Easter and Ignite will be sharing love throughout 167 this community to our senior citizens and families throughout the city of College Park. We have 168 hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Easter eggs that we will be doing Easter 169 egg hunts all throughout the city this week. So we're excited about that and just happy for the 170 opportunity to serve this amazing city. 171 172 I want to thank each of you, Mayor, and all four of our Council persons for your service. We 173 know it's not an easy job, but somebody has to do it and you all do it well. Thank you so much to 174 everyone and have a good one. 175 176 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you. Ms. Ames? 177 178 MS. AMES: The next comment I have has been emailed by Tom Coleman. And it reads: Regular Session Page 4 of 33 04/03/2023 179 Dear Madam and Sirs, having observed council meetings for many years, I have noticed a 180 practice, which I suggest can be improved on. A legitimate problem will be noted and the 181 Council immediately attempts to craft; legislation on the fly. An often hazily worded motion will 182 be made and each Councilman in turn gives their feelings on the subject and suggests wording 183 changes. Occasionally, the City Attorney will be asked a question and he will, by necessity, give 184 his unresearched opinion. 185 186 The motion is then voted on. Might I suggest that this largely ad hoc process does not give time 187 for explicit wording to accomplish the desired task, does not permit adequate time for reflection 188 on the issue, generally leaves out input from the staff who implement the motion's directions and 189 allows for no citizen comments? The resulting product can often yield unintended consequences. 190 Perhaps the Council, in its wisdom, could adopt a procedural flow something along these lines. 191 Number 1, a sponsoring Council member will define the problem to be solved, research 192 solutions, and come up with a draft of explicit wording for the motion. Number 2, this draft and 193 any supporting information deemed necessary will then be given, via email, to the Mayor and 194 fellow Council members, as well as the City Manager and attorney. 195 196 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Ms. Ames, could you speak a little closer into the microphone? 197 Thank you. 198 199 MS. AMES: The draft will be posted on the city website with the sponsoring Council member's 200 contact information. The City Manager can forward the draft to affected departments. Comments 201 can then flow to the sponsor. The sponsoring Council member may then revise the draft wording 202 and schedule either a workshop session if the issue seems complex and needs discussion for 203 better clarification, or an agenda item for the next city council meeting for an intended vote. In 204 all cases, the final draft should be published at least one week before a vote so as to allow citizen 205 comments. Any last amendments should push the vote off until these changes can be published a 206 week prior to any vote. 207 208 The above procedural flow will require a good deal of work by a sponsoring Council member. 209 The total time for a motion to reach a vote will indeed be extended. However, I can recall very 210 few issues that require any more immediate treatment. Motions resulting from above procedural 211 flow will have the great benefit of considered input from more affected parties. The wording will 212 be crafted more deliberate. There will no impression that any motion was rushed through the 213 Body. And I suspect council meetings will not drag on late into the night as the majority of 214 deliberation and discussion will be done beforehand. Thank you for your consideration. 215 216 The next comment is from Demetris Taylor. And it reads: Greetings and Salutations Mayor and 217 Council and our new City Manager. I am Demetris Taylor, secretary and parliamentarian for the 218 College Park Citizens Association and I reside in Ward 2 in the Embarcadero Club Apartments. 219 I have a few questions that are plaguing my mind and I hope that at some point, someone can 220 give some answers. Number 1, I understand the budget has been secured for this fiscal season, 221 but are we looking into innovative creative ways to generate more money into the city to cover 222 salaries? 223 Regular Session Page 5 of 33 04/03/2023 224 I've been looking at the salary for new police officers that we are in need of, and we are starting 225 them at 52,000 a year, which amounts to $25 an hour. Yet, we have other departments that are 226 not merely as dangerous or life threatening and are making nearly twice as much, simply because 227 they have a degree. Do we need to ask our officers to have criminal justice degrees in order to 228 get more higher wages? 229 230 Number 2, there are metal coverings on Sullivan Road and a couple other places around the city 231 that denotes some kind of digging and/or pipe work being done. Is it the city's doing or is that 232 attributed to the businesses? These metal coverings need to be readjusted on Sullivan Road and 233 they appear to be slipping and one can begin to see into the hole it's supposed to cover. When is 234 this construction going to end? 235 236 Number 3, we have signs up and chatter about the Six West development, but where do we stand 237 on actual movement? Can the citizens get an update on who is working on what and what we can 238 see tangible evidence of this development? Have we entertained the African American and/or 239 people of color contractors and developers to enrich the project? Councilman Carn, I am going to 240 ask that answering this answer becomes an agenda item so that citizens can be made aware of the 241 progress. 242 243 Number 4, what has become of Camp Truitt? Since we've been embarrassed publicly, there has 244 not been any official resolve on this matter from Council. Are we going to go back to the 245 drawing board with a new concept or have we become a county issue or have this become a 246 county issue and we've left this up to our commissioners to handle? Thank you for your time and 247 careful consideration to what I've asked. I don't want this to go on deaf ears. I'm looking for, 248 wanting, and waiting for answers. Do the math, 1 plus 2 plus 3 plus 4 equals one College Park. 249 Those are all my comments. 250 251 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Ms. Ames. If anyone in the audience wishes to speak 252 at this time, please approach the podium and state your name and where you live. Seeing no one 253 approaching, we will move forward with the rest of the meeting. 254 255 6. Consent Agenda 256 257 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: I think based on the conversation, we probably need to take these 258 separately. So item 6(a)(1) is consideration of and action on bids received for materials for 259 upcoming construction and maintenance and this is through the power department. 260 261 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Move to approve. 262 263 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Allen. Is there a second? 264 265 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Second. 266 267 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. All those in favor? 268 269 RESPONSE: AYE. Regular Session Page 6 of 33 04/03/2023 270 271 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, gentlemen. 272 273 A. Consideration of an action on a request to approve the consent agenda as outlined. 274 275 1. Consideration of and action on bids received for material for upcoming 276 construction and maintenance. 277 278 ACTION: Councilman Allen moved to approve a request from Director of Power Hugh 279 Richardson for purchase of upcoming construction and material in the total amount 280 of $565,707.50, seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. 281 282 2. Consideration and action on a request for bid approval of roof upgrades for College 283 Park City Hall with Caliber Construction in the amount of $299,232.00. 284 285 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Item 6(a)(2) is consideration of and action on a request for bid 286 approval for roof upgrades for College Park City Hall. 287 288 COUNCILMAN CARN: Motion to accept the bid from the RYCARS group. 289 290 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Is there a second? Motion dies for a lack of a second. Is there 291 another motion? 292 293 ACTION: Councilman Carn motioned to approve a bid submission from Rycars Construction, 294 LLC for the roof upgrades for College Park City Hall, motion died due to the lack 295 of a second. 296 297 COUNCILMAN CLAY: I'll motion to approve the bid that was recommended then. 298 299 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: For Caliber Construction? 300 301 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Is that correct, Mr. Moody? Yes. 302 303 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Is there a second? 304 305 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I'll second. 306 307 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Any discussion? All those in favor? 308 309 COUNCILMAN CLAY: AYE. 310 311 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: AYE. 312 313 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All those opposed? 314 315 COUNCILMAN CARN: Opposed. Regular Session Page 7 of 33 04/03/2023 316 317 COUNCILMAN GAY: Abstain. 318 319 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Gay abstains. So the motion passes with the vote of 320 Councilman Clay and Councilman Allen in favor. Councilman Carn against and Councilman 321 Gay abstaining. 322 323 ACTION: Councilman Clay motioned to approve a request from City Clerk Shavala Ames for 324 bid approval of roof upgrades for College Park City Hall Caliber Construction in 325 the amount of $299,232.00, Councilman Allen seconded, Councilman Carn 326 opposed, Councilman Gay abstain, and motion carried. 327 328 7. Other Business 329 330 A. Consideration of a request for a resolution from Mayor and Council in support of the 331 Willingham Corridor LCAYE. See attached memorandum dated March 15, 2023 from 332 Code Compliance Administrator Tasha Hall Garrison and supporting documentation. 333 334 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Item 7(a) is consideration of and action on a request for a 335 resolution from Mayor and Council in support of the Willingham Corridor LCAYE. Good 336 evening, Ms. Hall-Garrison. 337 338 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Good evening, Mayor and Council. So city of College Park has been 339 working through via Aerotropolis and with the cities of Hapeville and East Point since February 340 2020 towards the Willingham LCAYE. In your packet was the full final draft of the LCAYE. 341 And I am here, as well as Brian Dorelus from the Aerotropolis Alliance to answer any questions 342 as needed. 343 344 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. Thank you, Ms. Hall-Garrison. Questions for Ms. 345 Hall-Garrison. Councilman Clay? 346 347 COUNCILMAN CLAY: We have actually talked about this before. And I thought we were 348 pretty much in agreement to go forward on it. I think it's a good thing. I have no questions. 349 350 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you. Councilman Carn? 351 352 COUNCILMAN CARN: All right. So you're asking for approval in terms of us drafting a 353 resolution for this thing? 354 355 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Yes, sir. 356 357 COUNCILMAN CARN: Where we're at with the funding? I remember you we said we were 358 going to find some money somewhere else. 359 360 MS. HALL-GARRISON: So this is in support of the livable centers initiative for the 361 Aerotropolis. It specifies the corridor in creating an activity between the nodes and the corridor. Regular Session Page 8 of 33 04/03/2023 362 363 COUNCILMAN CARN: In terms of the funding, how are we looking? 364 365 MS. HALL-GARRISON: There is no funding. A resolution is requested so that we can go after 366 additional funding for the corridor. 367 368 COUNCILMAN CARN: Understood. So there's no update on the funding at all? I know we said 369 we were looking for some other funding sources the last time when you presented the concept. 370 371 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: That's a separate thing. 372 373 COUNCILMAN CLAY: That's another item, Joe, different thing. 374 375 COUNCILMAN CARN: Okay. So this isn't that project? 376 377 MS. HALL-GARRISON: No, sir. This is the Willingham Corridor LCAYE. 378 379 COUNCILMAN CARN: Okay. Got it. Understood. Because I know that other project was in this 380 area. 381 382 COUNCILMAN CLAY: This is a joint thing with Hapeville -- 383 384 COUNCILMAN CARN: This is the Tri-Cities thing. 385 386 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Any other questions? Councilman, any other questions? 387 388 COUNCILMAN CARN: Oh, I'm good. 389 390 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Allen? 391 392 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: No, I don't have any questions. I was at one of the meetings and it was 393 well presented and thank you for bringing it to us. 394 395 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Gay? 396 397 COUNCILMAN GAY: I just had one question, Ms. Garrison. The agenda that we have, is that a 398 study that was done previously? 399 400 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Yes, sir. That was a study that began in February 2020 that we 401 collaborated with the Tri-Cities, as the Tri-Cities due to Aerotropolis Alliance. So I just provided 402 a final draft. A previous presentation was given by the project manager John Tooley. And it was 403 about last year that presentation was done. 404 405 COUNCILMAN GAY: Do you know if this was the original? The only reason why I'm saying 406 this, I cannot read it. It's a very nice study but the text is like 4 points. I can't read it. 407 Regular Session Page 9 of 33 04/03/2023 408 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Yes, sir. I can forward -- 409 410 COUNCILMAN GAY: An electronic copy. 411 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Okay. I can forward you the electronic copy; no problem. 412 413 COUNCILMAN GAY: All right. Thank you. 414 415 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Is there a motion? 416 417 COUNCILMAN CLAY: So moved. 418 419 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. Is there a second? 420 421 COUNCILMAN CARN: Second. 422 423 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Carn. All those in favor? 424 425 RESPONSE: AYE. 426 427 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, gentlemen. That is unanimous. 428 429 ACTION: Councilman Clay motioned to approve a request from Code Compliance 430 Administrator Tasha Hall-Garrison to approve Resolution 2023-07 of the 431 Willingham Drive Corridor Livable Centers Initiative Study, Councilman Carn 432 seconded and motion carried. 433 434 B. Consideration of and action on a request authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement 435 with Stantec for services required through the Brownfield Grant Program. See attached 436 memorandum dated March 29, 2023 from Community Development Administrator Tasha 437 Hall-Garrison. Also, see attached supporting documentation. 438 439 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Item 7(b) is consideration of and action on a request authorizing 440 the Mayor to execute an agreement with Stantec for services required to the Brownfield grant 441 program. Ms. Hall-Garrison, would you like to give us a little background? 442 443 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Yes, so city of College Park began applying through economic 444 development for the Brownfield grant beginning in 2015. We were awarded beginning in 2017 445 and since then, we have been awarded six additional grants. 446 Currently, we have closed for fiscal year 2017 1.1 million dollars and we are currently managing 447 a budget of 1.6. We, actually in the last Brownfield, received the largest grant in the nation. 448 449 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Excellent. Questions for Ms. Hall-Garrison. Councilman Clay? 450 451 COUNCILMAN CLAY: No. I'm happy to get it and I'm all for it; no questions. 452 453 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Carn? Regular Session Page 10 of 33 04/03/2023 454 455 COUNCILMAN CARN: Glad to see we got it. On the bid tabulation here -- so what's the 456 estimated amount for this thing? So these outfits would submit a bid in terms of, I guess, what 457 they want to do for us with this -- they don't put in any fees? 458 459 MS. HALL-GARRISON: So the Brownfield grant, basically, we pay 20 percent and they 460 reimburse us for 80 percent. So the cost is associated to how much work is done under that grant. 461 462 COUNCILMAN CARN: So in the bid -- this RFQ, so did they, in terms of scope of work, 463 estimated cost, they didn't submit any cost in terms of -- and I understand we're only in 20 464 percent for this thing, and I'm glad of it. But did it include any estimates from the bidders? 465 466 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Of the four submissions, three of those did. The Stantec application 467 actually provided the lowest amount when compared to the other three submissions that included 468 cost estimates. 469 470 COUNCILMAN CARN: Where are the cost estimates here, because I see bid amount and it says 471 to be determined. You said three of them put in an estimate? 472 473 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Yes, sir. If you want to ask questions of purchasing. 474 475 MR. MOODY: When they submitted their proposals, it was not based on cost, it was based on 476 their qualifications. However, three of the four did submit a cost breakdown for services. Three 477 did include a 15 percent addition for equipment rental. One did not give us a cost of any services. 478 479 COUNCILMAN CARN: Was Stantec one of the ones that gave us an estimate? 480 481 MR. MOODY: Stantec, Terracon and Nova did give us cost estimates. Stantec had the 10 482 percent plus -- no, it was 10 plus 15 -- I'm sorry -- 10 plus 10 percent for equipment rental. The 483 other two were 10 plus 15 percent equipment rental. Some did not give us any cost estimate. 484 485 COUNCILMAN CARN: Well, I'd like to see the estimates for these three. I was hoping they 486 would be in this packet here, but I would like to see those, so get those to me if you can. 487 488 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Anything else? 489 490 COUNCILMAN CARN: Nah, I'm good. 491 492 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Allen? 493 494 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: No questions. 495 496 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Gay? 497 498 COUNCILMAN GAY: I have a few questions, actually. I've asked that no bid comes, at least 499 that I can vote on, without seeing the bid package. I can't blindly bid. There's a city where two Regular Session Page 11 of 33 04/03/2023 500 commissioners are going to prison, and the procurement manager. I'm being profound in saying, 501 I don't want to vote on any project unless I can determine and discern what we're voting on. So 502 since this is my second time asking, I'm asking you to please provide the bid packages for, at 503 least for me, to consider. 504 505 MR. MOODY: Are we looking for the recommended bid package, or you want to see all that 506 come in? Because it was asked that I put in the specifications. 507 508 COUNCILMAN GAY: Well, I mean, we can meet, you know, with the City Manager and City 509 Attorney and we can all discuss it and come up with a solution that make sense. The second 510 question I have is on Brownfield. So this bid is to hire a consultant? 511 512 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Yes, sir. That is a requirement of the grant. 513 514 COUNCILMAN GAY: All right. Now, we've had Brownfield grants previously, did we have a 515 consultant? 516 517 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Yes, sir. It is a requirement of the grant. 518 519 COUNCILMAN GAY: And did they bid? 520 521 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Cardno was actually purchased by Stantec, so this is the previous 522 company; yes, sir. 523 524 COUNCILMAN GAY: That was the previous provider? 525 526 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Yes, sir. 527 528 COUNCILMAN GAY: Because I was looking today in my office at the unsuccessful bidders, 529 and I notice you had in red, I guess in red, some notes about the strengths or weaknesses of each 530 respondent. So I was just curious, one of the unsuccessful bidders had very large projects and 531 there was a lot of remediation projects. And so, I was confused as to knowing how do you base 532 the points on? How do you go about selecting one over the other? 533 534 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Sure. I can't reference as far as the questionnaire that was done in the 535 red marking, as that was not mine. I can reference how I scheduled or viewed my own biddings. 536 As far as being that I have been informed of the Brownfield program and very active within the 537 State and the national program since 2015, I looked at the type of projects that were done by 538 each company. As far as for the company that rates the lowest, majority of their team all placed 539 on their resume, or as reference, a project that was smaller of nature, as well as that was done in 540 Mobile, Alabama. As far as for the top two ranking businesses, they also had work that was done 541 on a local level as well with government contracts that had been done on larger scales, and one 542 notably nationally recognized, metropolitan recognized programs. 543 544 COUNCILMAN GAY: Thank you. 545 Regular Session Page 12 of 33 04/03/2023 546 COUNCILMAN CARN: I had one other question. 547 548 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Go ahead Councilman Carn. 549 550 COUNCILMAN CARN: So is there a reason why the estimates aren't in here? 551 552 MS. HALL-GARRISON: As Moody stated, we did it as a qualification of skills, and as far as for 553 the background regarding their applicableness to Brownfield. 554 555 COUNCILMAN CARN: Well, here's the thing, any time we're spending money up here, whether 556 it's a grant or general funds, which this is a portion of both, I need to see the amount we're 557 spending and the estimated amount somebody is saying they can do a job for us for, to make a 558 good decision. You know, if someone's submitting a bid -- and City Manager, I guess this is for 559 you too, anybody that's submitting a bid, and if they're submitting numbers and they want us to 560 make a decision on it, I want to see those numbers. Does that make sense? So next time I want to 561 make sure we see that and you can send it to everyone, that would be great. I'm not as 562 comfortable bidding on something blindly in terms of I don't know when they're going to charge 563 for the work they're going to do. If they're spending money -- if they're offering services for this 564 amount, this estimated amount, I want to see what that is. 565 566 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Yes, sir. 567 568 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Any other questions? Hearing none, is there a motion? 569 570 COUNCILMAN CLAY: So moved. 571 572 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. Is there a second? 573 574 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Second. 575 576 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Allen. All those in favor? 577 578 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: AYE. 579 580 COUNCILMAN CLAY: AYE. 581 582 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All those opposed? 583 584 COUNCILMAN CARN: I'm going to abstain on this one. I'm not against it. 585 586 COUNCILMAN GAY: I'm going to abstain as well. 587 588 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. So we have Councilman Clay and Councilman Allen in 589 favor. And Councilman Carn and Councilman Gay have abstained; therefore, the motion passes. 590 591 MS. HALL-GARRISON: Thank you. Regular Session Page 13 of 33 04/03/2023 592 593 COUNCILMAN CARN: City attorney, is that -- yeah, two abstentions. 594 595 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Two abstentions mean that you are not here. The two votes carry. 596 597 MR. DENMARK: That's correct. 598 599 ACTION: Councilman Clay motioned to approve a request from Community Development 600 Administrator Tasha Hall-Garrison to grant the Mayor authorization to execute an 601 agreement with Stantec for services required through the Brownfield Grant 602 Program, Councilman Allen seconded, Councilman Carn and Gay abstained, and 603 motion carried. 604 605 C. Consideration of and action on a request to remove a weak Water Oak tree located at City 606 Hall. See memorandum dated March 20, 2024 from Interim Public Works Director 607 Timothy Lewis recommending REImage General Contractors, who's quote was the 608 lowest in cost Tree in the amount of $12,700.00. Also, see supporting documents. This is 609 a budgeted item. 610 611 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Item 7(c) consideration of and action on a request for removal 612 weak water oak tree located at City Hall. 613 614 COUNCILMAN CLAY: So moved. 615 616 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. Is there a second? 617 618 COUNCILMAN CARN: Second with discussion. 619 620 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Carn. Go right ahead. 621 622 COUNCILMAN CARN: Well, I'm glad we got down to something that's a little bit more 623 reasonable. I called around to a few tree services and I got quite a few trees cut out of my 624 backyard years ago, and it was a lot less then. For the original amount, you know -- and someone 625 told me this should be around $10,000. 626 627 Obviously, it's not $10,000, but it's a lot better than the 16.5 that we had. That tree isn't that tall, 628 isn't that high up. And I know things are more expensive nowadays. I'm glad you took another 629 look at it and at least got it down somewhat, but I still think that's high. 630 631 COUNCILMAN CLAY: I think part of the complication might be the fact that it's right next to 632 the main drag of the city and a state highway. I would agree with Councilman Carn, I think it's 633 still high. But I think there are reasons for it for how they're going to -- I've had a number of trees 634 taken down and I think they're going to have to be a lot more careful and diligent with it being on 635 a state highway. 636 637 MR. LEWIS: That's correct. Regular Session Page 14 of 33 04/03/2023 638 639 COUNCILMAN CARN: I don't disagree. I think also one of the reasons why it's so high is 640 because it's sitting on City Hall property. And when people see City Hall, they think deep 641 pockets. 642 643 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: And the use of cranes. They're going to have to use -- how many 644 cranes, one or two, I think, I would imagine. 645 646 MR. LEWIS: I think one. 647 648 COUNCILMAN GAY: I have a question. 649 650 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Go ahead, Councilman Gay. 651 652 COUNCILMAN GAY: Do we have an arborist report on that tree? 653 654 MR. LEWIS: Yes. 655 656 COUNCILMAN GAY: Have you made that report available to us? 657 658 MR. LEWIS: Yes. You should have it in your package. 659 660 COUNCILMAN GAY: Tonight? 661 662 MR. LEWIS: Yes. 663 664 COUNCILMAN CLAY: It's got four types of fungus, three or four types of different fungus. 665 666 COUNCILMAN GAY: Who made the decision to call the arborist? I'm just curious. 667 668 MR. LEWIS: Who made the decision? 669 670 COUNCILMAN GAY: Yeah. That tree has been there, what, a couple of hundred years. Who in 671 administration said, hey, the tree got fungus, let's call an arborist? What indicated it? 672 673 MR. LEWIS: Well, I walk City Hall a couple of times and I noticed the tree. And, you know, my 674 thing was, why didn't they take the tree down when they took the first one down? One thing we 675 don't want to happen is one of them limbs to fall and hit somebody that's walking through the 676 sidewalk. And so I brought it to Jackson's attention and he asked me to do what I needed to do. 677 678 COUNCILMAN GAY: So you called the arborist? 679 680 MR. LEWIS: No. We had the tree company to do that. 681 682 COUNCILMAN GAY: So you made the decision to cut a hundred year oak down? 683 Regular Session Page 15 of 33 04/03/2023 684 MR. LEWIS: I didn't make the decision. The tree is old. I'm just doing something that will save 685 the city money. 686 687 COUNCILMAN GAY: And how so? 688 689 MR. LEWIS: If a limb fall. 690 691 COUNCILMAN GAY: Well, we have limbs all over our city that -- 692 693 MR. LEWIS: You have -- 694 695 COUNCILMAN GAY: I wasn't finished talking. 696 697 MR. LEWIS: Go ahead. 698 699 COUNCILMAN GAY: I wasn't finished talking. 700 701 MR. LEWIS: Go ahead. 702 703 COUNCILMAN GAY: All right. What I'm trying to say is, I don't have a problem with you 704 having the votes to cut a tree down. But I do have a problem for you cutting down a hundred 705 year oak where there are communities that have laws against cutting those trees. And so, I 706 apologize. I didn't read the arborist report and neither did I get a second opinion. But just to say 707 I'm walking around and I want to see a tree cut to save the city money. We can have a 708 conversation for several hours on how to save the city money. That's all I have. 709 710 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, sir. Is there a motion? 711 712 MS. AMES: It's already made. 713 714 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Madam Clerk. We'll move to a vote. All those in 715 favor? 716 717 COUNCILMAN CLAY: AYE. 718 719 COUNCILMAN CARN: AYE. 720 721 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: AYE. 722 723 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Any opposed? 724 725 COUNCILMAN GAY: Opposed. 726 727 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. Thank you. So Councilman Clay, Councilman Carn, 728 and Councilman Allen are in favor. Councilman Gay has opposed. The motion passes 3/1. 729 Regular Session Page 16 of 33 04/03/2023 730 MR. LEWIS: Thank you. 731 732 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Mr. Lewis, appreciate it. 733 734 ACTION: Councilman Clay motioned to approve a request from Interim Public Works 735 Director Timothy Lewis to remove a weak tree located at City Hall in the amount 736 of $12,700.00, Councilman Carn seconded, Councilman Gay opposed and motion 737 carried. 738 739 8. Bids, Change Order Requests and Contracts. 740 741 9. Unfinished (Old) Business. 742 743 10. New Business. 744 745 11. City Attorney’s Report. 746 747 MR. DENMARK: Just briefly, Madam Mayor. I plan to present to the Council, I don't know if 748 it's at the next meeting. 749 750 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Winston, could you speak in the mic a little closer? 751 752 MR. DENMARK: Yes, sir. Whether it will be at the next meeting at the City Attorney's report or 753 before then, just the steps and process for disparity study. You may elect not to do it and it may 754 not be something that's in the will of the Council. But I at least want to present you with some 755 information that would provide you the information to decide whether that's something the city 756 would like to pursue or not. 757 758 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, sir. 759 760 COUNCILMAN CLAY: I couldn't understand most of what you said, Winston. 761 762 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Mr. Denmark said he will be presenting information regarding a 763 disparity study at the next City Attorney's report. 764 765 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Okay. 766 767 12. City Manager’s Report. 768 769 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: City Manager's report. Who wants to go first? 770 771 MR. HAWTHORNE: I will defer to Mr. Myers. 772 773 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. 774 775 MR. MYERS: Good evening, Mayor and Council. I wanted to talk about the Global Gateway Regular Session Page 17 of 33 04/03/2023 776 pedestrian bridge, it's my understanding that for all of you, starting the first week in June 9th 777 through the 12th, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, we're going to close State Route 6, Camp 778 Creek, to start the arch, the legs, and putting in the arches. Right now is what's scheduled. We're 779 also going to do a second weekend closing on June 16 through 19. And if C.W. Matthews may 780 need a third weekend, but if they do, they only have to do a single lane closing and we're 781 working with the GICC and meeting with them to make sure we don't have any big scheduled 782 events that they need the parking lot for over there so we can actually put this bridge up. We're 783 working very closely with them just to keep you abreast. 784 785 Very important dates to meet -- and Mayor and Council and the citizens. Lottie Miller 786 Boulevard, formerly Rhodes Street -- if you've had a chance to go out there, the roundabout has 787 been poured with concrete. It's got maroon color around, really looks pretty neat. The only thing 788 I would ask for you to ask the citizens, we’re going to light it up. I've already talked to Glen and 789 Hugh about putting lights at the roundabout so people can see it when they drive because they 790 have a lot of problems, you know, sometimes they drive straight through the roundabout. 791 792 But I was just wondering if you ever thought of something we talk to the citizens about putting 793 something in the center of the roundabout; a fountain, statue, something along that line. Let the 794 citizens make up some sort of mind, because it's a pretty good size roundabout. We also looked 795 at, you know, Representative Scott Williams, we submitted some more community project 796 funding applications, which you asked a little bit about that. It's about a new storage tank; that 797 we're going to try and protect our assets here in College Park. And we're going to try and put it 798 over there close to the -- getting with airport and the car rental center to keep it open because 799 they couldn't open it up because we didn't have enough water over there. But we're putting a 800 pump on it. 801 802 We want to be able to also protect our Arena. We want to protect the GICC by putting a million 803 gallon, maybe a million two water tank over there. And also to protect -- because car rental is a 804 big, big business to us and we don't need the car rental center to be closed because of lack of 805 water. So we want to protect all of our assets over there because they're big to our city. Also, like 806 to know if we'd like to get ahold of Eric Robinson, he's the facilitator for Georgia State 807 University and Andrew Young School about putting another retreat together; you were asking 808 about that. 809 810 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: I think he's from Carl Vinson; is he not? Carl Vinson Institute of 811 Government, not Georgia State. 812 813 MR. MYERS: I got Andrew Young School. That's what I got it on my phone. I can get ahold of 814 him anyway. 815 816 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Okay. 817 818 MR. MYERS: Wherever he's at. So, anyway, also, we got Georgia Municipal Association, I keep 819 reminding you, it's coming up. So a lot of us has already put in our -- to be able to go to 820 Savannah. You all should know the dates. We've done -- Sonia has helped out a lot with the new Regular Session Page 18 of 33 04/03/2023 821 City Manager, and I want to welcome the new City Manager, Stanley Hawthorn, to the city of 822 College Park on my behalf. 823 824 a) Budget Discussion 825 826 MR. MYERS: And, budget, Q & A. What's your Q & A? 827 828 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. Councilman Carn? 829 830 COUNCILMAN CARN: I'm hoping we're all concerned with that. As, you know, City Manager, 831 welcome, glad to have you on board. Budget process -- obviously, very important, probably the 832 most important document that we evaluate and assess and make a decision on, obviously. I often 833 hear from residents about it and there's, in my opinion, there's never enough participation from 834 residents to come and see exactly how their money is being spent here. We used to have a pre- 835 budget hearing and meeting where we would sit down and talk about the direction of what we 836 wanted in the budget, where we were going, where we were heading, what we were trying to 837 accomplish. It's been some years where we've said, all right, we want everyone coming in 5 838 percent leaner, so-and-so forth, and give some direction before we go into the process. 839 840 We got a lot of needs that have to be taken care of. There's never going to be enough money to 841 take care of everything. But we want of try and prioritize, you know, with our residents in mind, 842 first and foremost. Our businesses are very important as well. I always say they run a close 843 second, but residents are always first in my book. Obviously, you can't do things without a strong 844 business tax base, as well. But things are really tough out here. And every dime that people are 845 spending in terms of what they're paying for and expecting for city services, it just keeps 846 increasing. I had finance pull some information for me and I was just looking at the rate of 847 property tax increases just all around. I heard about the rate increase in East Point, and they were 848 pretty substantial. I said, well, I know that we're pretty much commensurate with them. We have 849 two of the same tax rate sources -- the county and the schools -- of course, same school system, 850 same county. And out of the three -- he pulled some random addresses. These are homeowners, 851 not exempt with senior taxes and two of the three were almost three-fold tax increases from 2017 852 until '22; almost three times as much in terms of property taxes. 853 854 Same thing in East Point. And when I talked to some folks in East Point, I was with some of the 855 council members and they talked about how high property taxes have gone up over there. It's the 856 same over here. And I'd imagine it's the same in the other areas as well. That's a pretty big pill to 857 swallow for five years; a three-fold, almost a three-fold increase. So this budget is very, very 858 important. People are spending their money and they want to know what they're getting for the 859 services. At the end of the day, if I were to ask one of our residents a question, you know, if 860 you're paying close to three times the amount of property taxes, are your level of services three 861 times better, you know? Are your streets going to be paved three times as much? You know, the 862 answer is going to usually be no to those questions. This is why it's so important to make sure 863 that staff is on the case in doing the job we need to do in terms of level of service, in terms of 864 raising the bar. 865 866 Because it's really crucial. And I just want to make sure that every dime that we spend, I want Regular Session Page 19 of 33 04/03/2023 867 residents to feel that money. And I know there's a lot of non-front facing systems and things that 868 we have to purchase every year that they'll never understand or see about, but it's part of making 869 the system work in terms of what they see out front. But I want to make sure that we're upping 870 that level of service. A big part of why we got you here is to make sure that that happens in new 871 ways. There is a big need for improvement in terms of expectations. Staff does a great job, don't 872 get me wrong. But at the same time, the money that our residents are paying, this is why we need 873 to raise the bar. Because they're certainly raising the bar in terms of taxes. And, again, most of 874 that's not the city of College Park. Most of that is county and schools, of course. But we just 875 want to be cognizant of that, you know. 876 877 Every line that I look at, I say, how is this going to affect our residents if we're spending this 878 money, and I would like you do the same. How is this going to affect our residents if we spend 879 this money? And I just want to take a more practical approach and more critical. And I really 880 want us to budget more with a sense of concern and urgency this time around. Last year, it was a 881 mess, to be honest. I'd never seen a budget process like that. But that was last year. And one 882 thing about a brand-new year, you get to hit the reset button and make some improvements, so 883 that's what we're looking forward to. But I want us to definitely take our time and make sure that 884 we're spending the money appropriately where all of our residents will approve and understand 885 why we're spending it, so... and if anybody else had any comments on what we're doing, how we 886 want to do it. 887 888 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Clay 889 890 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Yeah, several things I wanted to say about the budget. First off, as part 891 of the budget meeting tomorrow night at 6 p.m., I believe it is, 6 or 6:30 – 892 893 MR. MYERS: 18:30. 894 895 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Thank you. At 6:30 tomorrow night, we will have our first budget 896 meeting. And part of that meeting, correct me if I'm wrong, Althea, will be a presentation of 897 overview of the budget. And I would hope that during that presentation, at the front end of the 898 budget, we will have an opportunity to comment more when we have a bunch of numbers in 899 front of us on very illustrative slides. 900 901 Now, there are some in there now, in the packet, for the budget. The budget, by the way people, 902 is on the website. And you can download exactly what we've got. We have a budget book. I don't 903 know that the overview is in there. But there's another overview that Althea has distributed, I 904 believe, and that will be even more illustrative than what's in the packet, initially. I happen to 905 like the ones that are in the packet on line because they get into some of the details the way I like 906 to look at them. But I have not had a chance to review the slides in any great detail. I started a 907 little bit on that, working with the fund -- but I think it's important if you want to understand the 908 budget that the people come to the meeting tomorrow night, because I think that's going to be 909 useful. 910 911 In that regard, last year, 2023 budget, we were putting together, we had 6 million dollar potential 912 from Power coming from the data mining, crypto currency, what have you, facility down on Regular Session Page 20 of 33 04/03/2023 913 Godby Road. It's a major cloud in the sky installation, multiple processors there. They consume 914 huge amounts of power. And they were projecting, potentially, 6 million dollars of revenue, I 915 mean, pure revenue. That was not put in the budget. Last year we increased the millage rate for 916 this year and I was hopeful that this year with the inclusion of something on the order of 6 917 million dollars coming in from power, which power does owe the general fund money from past 918 years that maybe we can actually drop the millage rate. We had held it constant for, what was it, 919 12 years? 920 921 MR. MYERS: Yes, 15. 922 923 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Held it constant. And we went up for this year. It was approved last 924 year in August or so. And I was hopeful that not only could we maybe take it back to where it 925 was prior to last year but that, in fact, we might be able to lower it partly because of the property 926 valuations that have gone up which automatically increase the money that we receive. So I don't 927 know. I haven't had a chance to review the material, so I don't know whether that 6 million 928 dollars is in there. And I don't know whether -- Hugh Richardson is nodding. Is it in there, Hugh? 929 All right. That's good news. Now maybe there's a whole bunch of things to offset it, like what 930 we're talking about, like a salary program that could greatly increase the cost of labor in the 931 general fund. 932 933 But I certainly hope, if we can, that we at least are able to drop back the millage rate to where we 934 were before. And if not, maybe even cut it below where we were before. I'm concerned about 935 doing a thorough job on salary. And I don't know how we do this, because the salary, we need to 936 take time to think through it carefully. We just had an introduction tonight. But we need to work 937 on the budget during April. So we're going to have to think carefully about how we work that, so 938 that when we decide on the salary program, we then are going to have to decide what we have to 939 do to adjust the budget that has been worked through. Because we're not going to get through the 940 salary program; I don't think before May. And given that -- that may determine the tax increase 941 or decrease. My preference would be for a tax decrease so they said, and that's what I was 942 thinking about. 943 944 But when we have looked at the salary program just tonight, and we didn't see -- we didn't have 945 in our packets, the detailed slides that were presented at the end, so I haven't had a chance to 946 really look at those. But, hopefully, we'll be able to not have to raise the millage rate, certainly. 947 And, hopefully, we can get it back to where it was or even less than. That's one of my objectives. 948 Because times are tough, as Councilman Carn was saying, for people out there. Everybody's cost 949 of living has gone up. I know we sure don't eat as much steak as we used to eat. I can tell you 950 that much. So I don't have a lot of precise guidelines because I haven't had a chance to go 951 through the material. We just got it prior to the weekend. So that's all the comment I have at this 952 point on the budget. 953 954 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Allen? 955 956 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Yeah, I'm looking forward to the budget. It's a long process. We look 957 at a lot of different items. We make adjustments, but we also can make adjustments as we go 958 through the year. So we do make adjustments. Althea and her staff do a fantastic job, as all the Regular Session Page 21 of 33 04/03/2023  959 departments. And they have been working on it probably months, to get to this point. Please, 960 everybody, if you're interested, join us as we talk about the budget and we discuss it. I appreciate 961 all the departments working tirelessly to do it. Althea and her group, fantastic job always. So 962 thank you very much and looking forward to it. 963 964 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Gay? 965 966 COUNCILMAN GAY: No comments. 967 968 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. Thank you, sir. Mr. Hawthorn, I want to give you an 969 opportunity to, for those who may not read the press release or just seeing you for the first time, 970 give you an opportunity to introduce yourself to all of our residents. We're so happy that you are 971 here. And really looking for your leadership and your service to this community. So the floor is 972 yours, sir. 973 974 MR. HAWTHORNE: Well, thank you, Mayor and Councilmen for the invitation to come 975 College Park. And that has been over several weeks, going into two months now. And I have 976 been as excited and enthused as you can imagine. At the same time, I must apologize that I've 977 got a lot of catching up to do since that time. Because comments have been made, I believe by 978 Councilman Carn. Budgeting process, I agree, I think it's the single most important document 979 and process that a government and almost any organization goes through. 980 981 But in terms of local government, there's no one simply that isn't impacted that has a relationship 982 with College Park. Thursday evening, Thursday night, I should say, I was finishing up in the 983 organization that I left from, the town of Bloomfield, Connecticut, in the final budget meeting 984 that I was able to attend and hope to conclude it. We didn't quite get there, despite a late night. 985 And, literally, the next morning, I was on the road headed this way over two days. And I 986 received the budget along with other documents this morning. So a note of volumes I've got. And 987 I simply haven't put my arms around it yet, because I was busy with meetings and tours today. 988 But budget is my discipline, just to start out, in introducing myself. 989 990 There's not an organization that I've worked in. That's how I started. I believe in it. And if I can 991 make some claim to being an expert, I would say that's the area. So I look forward to putting my 992 arms around it, not as much as I'll have a chance to do in the future, starting from the beginning 993 of the process. But it is so important and it's certainly impacts ours neighbors, both in terms of 994 what it will cost and them having to pay for it and how well are we delivering and what they're 995 paying for. So a lot to learn; I'm here. You have my total focus. I look forward to working with 996 each of you. The staff, many of whom I had a chance to visit with today, who they will probably 997 be earning a new title of distinction. Because I believe what we do as public servants, it is our 998 responsibility to build community and to build better community. To build it leaner and meaner 999 when we can. 1000 1001 But to meet what our neighbors of Bloomfield, all 15,000 plus estimated population, what they 1002 expect and deserve. And we need to be in tune with them. So be patient with me as I learn a lot. 1003 But I will be a great student putting in the necessary time, including cramming, and what it takes 1004 to lead this organization administratively. So, again, thank you for the opportunity. I couldn't be Regular Session Page 22 of 33 04/03/2023 1005 more excited. 1006 1007 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you so much. We appreciate it and look forward to 1008 working with you. 1009 1010 13. Report Of Mayor And Council. 1011 1012 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Well, good evening everybody. I just have four items I want to cover 1013 tonight. None of them are great. First, was that periodically we have complaints from my 1014 constituents with regard to some of the noise that's generated, it's actually music for the people 1015 that are enjoying it, but it's noise for the people who are hearing it at a distance, but not distant 1016 enough. So on Sunday, I got a call from a constituent, we have a constant issue that the noise 1017 ordinance, while it says certain things about time of day, how much noise can be produced up to 1018 10 o’clock? And then after 10 o'clock how much noise can be produced. 1019 1020 It also says in there if the noise is a disturbance to the citizens, then it is inappropriate. And we've 1021 made some attempts with Winston's organization. Danielle and I have looked at the noise 1022 ordinance off and on and tried to tweak it in certain ways. I don't know how we deal with it. But 1023 when the police go, and they were called, and I understand they did go and the people on Main 1024 Street did cut down the noise but when the police left, the noise went back up. And this is 1025 periodic annoyance and I love the people that are in the business that are doing it. I know it's 1026 hard to control, but somehow we've got to do a better job of that, whether it's in the ordinance or 1027 enforcement or what. 1028 1029 The next thing I wanted to mention was that I saw a report email about the sewer line at Zupp 1030 Park being blocked again. And that was an issue that I pursued particularly, because we are about 1031 to put restrooms in Barrett Park. And to be honest, this is my last year on Council and I have 1032 resisted putting restrooms in Barrett Park, even though the rest of the Council is perfectly happy 1033 to accommodate that. And my concern was some of the vandalism and lack of cleanliness and 1034 not so good things that have happened in Zupp and Phillips Park. And some of it I've witnessed 1035 myself in visiting the park at various times, not recently. But when we put the restrooms in at 1036 Barrett Park, I made a commitment to the residents that, at least, while I'm on duty -- and that's 1037 one of the reason I've gone along with putting the restrooms in; because I believe they will go in 1038 eventually and I would like to be watching while they do go in to guide them so that we put in 1039 better security, better methods of controlling access to the restrooms and monitoring cleanliness 1040 and so forth. So the comment I made was, the other day, when we were actually approved going 1041 forward with getting bids on the restrooms was that whatever we do in Barrett Park should be a 1042 pilot and we should extend that to all the parks in the city. 1043 1044 They should have equivalent standards. They should have no vandalism. They should have 1045 cleanliness, et cetera, et cetera. And so, I'm going to be making a big push. When I heard this 1046 notice about the sewer line being backed up, I pursued it. And I found out from Lance that it 1047 happens every year. And if it happens every year, is it tree roots? I mean, that's a possibility. But 1048 it's also a possibility of people putting things down the toilets that are not appropriate, and maybe 1049 there's a way around that. 1050 Regular Session Page 23 of 33 04/03/2023 1051 Maybe you don't put anything in the restroom that can clog up the toilet. Maybe you use hand 1052 dryers or what have you; I don't know. But that's a concern that I have. It's not my park, but I 1053 think all the parks should be reflective of the way we want to treat people in College Park. Next 1054 item, today we had an issue with what I will call double parking on Main Street. It got addressed. 1055 There was a flurry of emails that went back and forth. But we have, not just in the area that was a 1056 problem area today on Main Street, but we have a problem all along Main Street where people 1057 will come in and they will park their car, turn their flashers on, and vacate the car. So there's no 1058 one in the car to move it if someone were to come, or if someone had to get out in an emergency. 1059 They just found out that their spouse had been in an auto accident, they want to pull out and 1060 they've got a car parked behind them with the flashers on. 1061 1062 This is ridiculous. It's got to be enforced. We've got to take a tougher stand. If we have to do 1063 something in the ordinance, I think I said this in an email today but I'm going to say it out loud. 1064 We have to do something in the sense of improving the ordinance, or improving the posting, or 1065 improving the enforcement, or all of the above. And my last item, I put on Council's agenda 1066 previously a meeting or two ago the issue with the salaries that we have here where it was 1067 declared that various members of council, because of things not being approved properly, et 1068 cetera, et cetera, owed money to the city and that's being looked at through a third party now. We 1069 got an opinion from City Attorney. We got an opinion from the legislative council to GMA, and 1070 we're getting an independent opinion. 1071 1072 I'm not a lawyer. I always got a "C" in my three law courses that I look at MIT. So I look at 1073 things logically as opposed to precedent. But all I can say is I've read it over and over again and I 1074 think it is all moot point at this point, but it's in play. The citizens deserve to know what the 1075 situation is. Jackson Myers has been following up on it and Stanley, and we need -- I respectfully 1076 suggest that he should keep on top of it, because he knows exactly what's going on. He's 1077 contacted an attorney. He's got somebody looking into it now. 1078 1079 They're not moving it as fast as I would like. My hope was, we'd have this resolved before you 1080 came on. And I put it on counsel to facilitate that, previously. Unfortunately, it didn't move quite 1081 as fast as we would have liked. You just need to know it's an issue and we need to let Jackson get 1082 it cleaned up as fast as he can get it cleaned and get the results back. And then we got to make a 1083 decision as a group as to what we're going to do about it. But we're trying to be totally 1084 transparent on the system. It started before I even got on council, so it's an old, old issue. And 1085 that's all I have. 1086 1087 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. Councilman Carn? 1088 1089 COUNCILMAN CARN: All right. Want to welcome Stanley like everybody has. You know, 1090 hitting the ground running is a big task. We don't want to give you too much to -- we don't want 1091 to run you out of town at the same time. So I know it takes a while to ease into a lot of this stuff 1092 and get a fully realistic assessment of what we're working with in terms of what we got currently 1093 and then our expectations up here. But we want to welcome you. 1094 1095 A couple of things I had -- the commitment that we made in terms of city funds to a Community 1096 Bank. I don't know where we are on that, but I had thought at some point that was going to be Regular Session Page 24 of 33 04/03/2023 1097 coming back to us. And, Winston, I guess you know what we're talking about there. I'm 1098 assuming that's going to be coming up on an agenda pretty soon I would imagine. I know there 1099 were a few other hoops to go through with that, but I don't want that to fall off the radar. I'll talk 1100 to you about it and fill you in on it at some point here. 1101 1102 Couple of other things. We had a great event in Washington, D.C., the National League of Cities. 1103 I and the Mayor spent a few days up there. Great information, great contacts. I've gone to more, 1104 you know, NLC meetings than I can even recall in terms of conventions and what not. Really 1105 good info. Had a lot of meetings in and outside in the DC area there. Lot of good things going 1106 on. There are a lot of good grant opportunities coming up. It was a really good meeting. It was 1107 good to see so many folks. This was my first meeting since I had been back. I saw so many 1108 council members and folks that were former this and former that and doing new things. So it was 1109 good visiting up there with folks. 1110 1111 You always get some great best practices from there. One of congressional representative got 1112 some FAA authorization that's going to affect -- that affect the excluded communities, the 1113 communities that airports aren't in. Well, communities that do not own their local airports, like 1114 us. And I'm looking forward to that moving forward on the national front, so I'm hoping that's 1115 going to happen. On the State front, the one bill that I was tracking, House Bill 404, it did not get 1116 across the line in the Senate. It was tabled in the Senate. I thought it had a good chance because it 1117 passed the Senate committee unanimously and was going to go to the floor and it was tabled. 1118 1119 This was the bill in terms of decent standards for rental. But I think it's going to be up for next 1120 year because legislation now goes over a two year cycle. So I want to keep an eye on that. I've 1121 got an Easter egg event set for April 4th. Chief, I wanted you to know about that. We're going to 1122 have it out at the Camp Creek Park. And so I can use a little help with that. Nothing hugely 1123 elaborate, but I want to talk to you about getting some support for that on Friday. In terms of the 1124 budget, we touched on a few things. That additional, potential, additional 6 million that we're 1125 talking about, is that real, you know, unearmarked funds, potentially, there that we're talking 1126 here? 1127 1128 MR. RICHARDSON: Well, the answer is yes. In my budget, I have -- you want me to give you 1129 some numbers? 1130 1131 COUNCILMAN CARN: Well, just a quick -- I know we're going to go through it probably 1132 tomorrow. 1133 1134 MR. RICHARDSON: I know she has already put in the 2 million dollars transfer general fund 1135 from my budget. And I still have a 3-1/2 million dollar margin after that. Plus this new contract 1136 with the data center is generating a million and a half in franchise taxes too. So, yes. 1137 1138 COUNCILMAN CARN: That's a big deal. If we're talking about considering -- if we're looking 1139 at these potential salary increases, you know, making sure this 6 million is real and not 1140 completely earmarked. I'm glad to see that. Okay. I definitely appreciate that. I know you talked 1141 about at some point the potential of a second one poking around, speculating with us. 1142 Regular Session Page 25 of 33 04/03/2023 1143 MR. RICHARDSON: Yeah. And the current one is looking at growing some more too. 1144 1145 COUNCILMAN CARN: All right. Well, keep going with that; that's for sure. Chief, I want to 1146 thank you for the extra work in patrols and detail out in the Windsor Forest community there. 1147 They've been having some issues and some trouble there, but I think we're on the case with it and 1148 we're off to a good start with it. You can see I'm wearing your cap. Without question, I support 1149 our police department, all of them, including our 911 operators. 1150 1151 So we're glad to have things making, you know, progress. I've been seeing a few changes there, 1152 so people are starting to notice. So keep that up. You're making some good progress there. I 1153 spoke briefly about William Moore possibly coming in and doing a little bit of consulting for us. 1154 And I didn't know how everyone felt about that. But I felt like if we had him come in and archive 1155 some serious data and institutional knowledge, I think that would really pay dividends for us in 1156 the future. I don't think it's something that would be big cost amount, but I think the value of it, 1157 years from now, will really pay off for us. So I don't know if there's a consensus for that, but I'd 1158 like us to look at bringing him in and getting that institutional data on record, archived, some 1159 kind of a way. So that's something I would like to do. And, again, if there's a consensus on it, I'd 1160 love for us to do it. I think it's something that we need to do, and I think it would be what little 1161 money we spend on it, I think will be well spent. So I want to hear from everybody on that, as 1162 well, before we leave tonight. 1163 1164 The other thing, Chief, I know we were looking at the health initiatives. I didn't know if there 1165 was any update, but I know we had that good call a couple of weeks ago. I just want to make 1166 sure we're moving forward with that. At some point, I want to check in with you and see where 1167 we are. As you all know, Fulton County, we were able to secure some funding for some health 1168 initiatives in marketing out in the community. So at some point, we need to follow back up with 1169 them and see what they're gonna -- you know, the specifics of what they can do for us. At some 1170 point, I guess you're going to bring it to us and present, in terms of what they want to do there. 1171 So, again, welcome, Stanley. We're a complicated city, heavily in terms of intergovernmental, 1172 even for the simplest questions, you know. 1173 1174 If someone were to ask you what size city is College Park, you know. You could say we're under 1175 20,000. You could say over 50,000 because both answers would be correct. So managing this 1176 city is a complicated matter, you know. A lot of times, you know, someone may look at 1177 managing perspective for a city of 14-15,000 people. But at the same time, if you're swelling to a 1178 hundred thousand a day, it's a different proposition, you know. We budget in terms of our 1179 residents and needs and whatever you have. We're a hospitality base city. That means we get a 1180 whole lot of company day in and day out. I often talk with our departments about the fact that 1181 that means that our city has to be kept a whole lot cleaner than other cities many times over, 1182 perhaps, throughout the days. And a lot of our operations are weekend based where we make a 1183 good chunk of our money. The only problem is most of our staff is not here over the weekends 1184 and it gives us a bad look sometimes when we get all this company. So there are a lot of things 1185 and dynamics that we want to look at in terms of tweaks and adjustments and stuff that we really 1186 want to kind of start to delve into. 1187 1188 We'll get to it. We've got plenty of time to get into it, and what not. But I'm looking forward to Regular Session Page 26 of 33 04/03/2023 1189 just us making improvements and learning along the way. Generally, we work pretty good 1190 together up here, I think. You know, we talked about there are some equity issues as you saw 1191 today. But I don't think that's a major, major issue. But it's also something we need to all have a 1192 level playing field in terms of fairness and sameness for all. But that's the least of our issues. So 1193 looking forward to good things and some good work with you. That's all I got. 1194 1195 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you. Councilman Allen? 1196 1197 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Okay. First of all, Stanley, welcome, City Manager, appreciate you 1198 being here. This is a very friendly city where people get out, people walk, people enjoy each 1199 other's company, listen to music in their front lawns. So I think you'll enjoy it here, and we're 1200 looking forward to your expertise. You can take us to a different level, so we appreciate that. 1201 Jackson Myers, thank you so much for everything you've done. You're the heart of this city and 1202 appreciate everything you've done to step up and put in a lot of long hours, so appreciate it very, 1203 very much. 1204 1205 Tim, there's a plate on East Main on the other side that's been there for about two or three years. 1206 And I don't know if it's waiting on parts or what. If you can just kind look into it and tell us 1207 what's going on. I don't know just send us an email and let us know what's going on because I've 1208 got a couple of calls. Just appreciate you looking into that. Police Chief, again, thank you very 1209 much for coming to the town hall. It wasn't the turnout we expected to be there. But the people 1210 there learned an awful lot. They learned who you are and appreciate you being there. 1211 1212 I've got a couple of calls about the post office, and I don't know how we deal with the post office. 1213 But it wasn't open. I went up there again today at 10 o'clock, supposed to be open at 9. The door 1214 was open. I guess the counter was not open. All the things were down. So we need to look into 1215 that, and I don't know if they're holding that strictly for training. But you can't get stamps there 1216 anymore. So we need to have a sit down with the post office. Maybe we can have them come in 1217 and explain it to us what's going on. I don't know if everybody else knows any more, or even if 1218 we can do anything with the post office. 1219 1220 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: You know I was thinking about that, maybe about a month -- I'm 1221 sorry -- a week or so ago. And, perhaps, it might be useful to, at least -- I don't know about 1222 getting someone physically here; I mean, we can try. But at least getting all of our concerns 1223 about what’s going on together in a letter and sending it. 1224 1225 COUNCILMAN CLAY: You know, this is a federal issue. And we've got two Senators here. 1226 And they come here ever so often. Maybe we should talk to one of our Senators. Not them 1227 directly, but they have local staff. Why not talk to their local staff representative and tell them 1228 what's going on here. 1229 1230 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: So why don't we do this. Why don't we compile all of the 1231 concerns that we've heard and we get a letter drafted and at least send that on to the staff of our 1232 representatives? 1233 1234 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I think that's a great idea. Regular Session Page 27 of 33 04/03/2023 1235 1236 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: So, gentlemen, if you want to send them to me by the end of the 1237 week, then we can circulate a letter, see if you approve on that, and then we can go from there; 1238 sound good? 1239 1240 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Perfect. 1241 1242 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. 1243 1244 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Get our new City Manager involved. 1245 1246 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Absolutely. 1247 1248 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: On April 30th -- and you're going to hear it from me next council 1249 meeting, as well, Spin the District is coming and they'll be at the Public Safety building where 1250 they ride bicycles in a criterium. And we had people from 22 different states come to College 1251 Park. 1252 1253 We had people from 12 or 13 countries come to ride in this bike race. They have food trucks. 1254 They do have alcohol where you can buy. Hopefully, not the bicyclists, but it's fun for the kids to 1255 get out. They have a kids event. So please come out and support this. We need to have more 1256 support of that, and it's a great event for everybody to get together in the city and have a good 1257 time. 1258 1259 The last thing I have is, Fire Chief, the other day I was driving, it wasn't my Ward, it was your 1260 Ward, up Mercer, there was a fire truck there. I stopped to see if everything was okay. There was 1261 a lady that had some issue. I didn't get into that issue, that part with them. But she had an issue. 1262 The fire truck had come from Godby Road. And I said is everything okay, and they said, we're 1263 waiting on an ambulance from downtown. They'd been waiting 40 minutes. So that fire truck on 1264 Godby Road, for the apartments, I don't know how many other fire trucks you have out there. 1265 But that's getting into their business and curtailing their ability to respond to other people that 1266 live up there. 1267 1268 I mean, hats off to those people. They did a fantastic job. They were very up. And it's an issue 1269 that, I think, we need, again, to address with the higher ups. Because we've lost one hospital, 1270 another one closed downtown. And if we have to wait on Grady to come out in the traffic, it 1271 takes them forever, so at least an hour. So I don't know how long they waited. I left after about 1272 40 minutes, but any thoughts from -- 1273 1274 CHIEF ELMORE: Well, it's been an ongoing issue over the last few years. I would say over the 1275 last two months they have improved. If you notice, we've been having a Grady ambulance that is 1276 parked in the back of our station or in the Public Safety parking lot. So I take it we're still having 1277 a few issues that we have to iron out. But we've been talking to their supervisors and upper 1278 management. And, hopefully, hopefully, soon we'll have it ironed out. 1279 Regular Session Page 28 of 33 04/03/2023 1280 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Hopefully, we can get that, because if somebody needed the fire truck 1281 or -- I don't know if both EMTs were on other calls 1282 1283 CHIEF ELMORE: Well, we have six units per day that's out. And, normally, very seldom, 1284 they're all out at the same time. But that unit was out. We had a couple of other units that would 1285 cover for them in their areas. 1286 1287 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Well, we appreciate their service. They did a great job. I just wanted 1288 to let you know. But that's a concern we're going to have deal with from up here. Thank you very 1289 much. And that's all I have. 1290 1291 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Just to add a little bit to that point. There has been study 1292 committee that is being formed in regard to this very issue, because it's not only an issue that is 1293 in the South Fulton region, but areas across the State. And so, there was some legislation 1294 introduced to allow municipalities to be able to transport. But it did not cross the finish line, but 1295 the legislature is taking a look at the issue in between this session and the next. 1296 1297 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: If we're able to transport, it might be a need for other transportation, 1298 you know, vehicles, in your budget. So, again 1299 1300 CHIEF ELMORE: We're asking. 1301 1302 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Okay. That's all I've got. 1303 1304 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Gay? 1305 1306 COUNCILMAN GAY: I have a couple of items to discuss but I'll be very brief, and they're in 1307 no particular order. Is there an update on the bid paving? 1308 1309 MR. MYERS: No, it's still out. I haven't gotten – 1310 1311 COUNCILMAN GAY: Has it closed yet? 1312 1313 MR. MYERS: It's not closed yet. As soon as it closes, I'll let the whole Body know. 1314 1315 COUNCILMAN GAY: Is there a pre-bid conference, a mandatory pre-bid? 1316 1317 MR. MYERS: I can't truthfully answer that question at this time. 1318 1319 COUNCILMAN GAY: Okay. I'm amazed at the great work that the In Her Hands organization 1320 did; however, I know that's some information that can't or don't disclose as part of their mission. 1321 But I would like to know a little bit more. I referred numerous of people. I don't know if any of 1322 them were considered. I have no -- I don't know what that looks like. I don't know if we need a 1323 copy of their 990, which is a public document. But I would like to get a little bit more 1324 information if our citizens are being impacted good or bad. The next thing is lawn care. The late Regular Session Page 29 of 33 04/03/2023 1325 Jack Longino talked about it, and I'm going to bring it back up. We need to try and figure out -- 1326 City Manager -- we might need to look at if there are other cities that have lawn care ordinances. 1327 In my Ward, there's no time limits for when they come. So they can be out there seven days a 1328 week, till it gets dark. You either got a blower behind you, a blower on the next street. And then 1329 on top of that, you've got the roofers and then you have the tree cutters, with the planes. It's a 1330 very noisy community. And on Sundays they're out there blowing. And the other thing is, and I 1331 don't know the facts on this, but I don't even think -- I heard that blowers, the big backpack 1332 blowers, emit more carbon monoxide than an old car. 1333 1334 So I know it may sound like I'm just saying it, but I really would like for us to see if we can 1335 control -- not to mention, I don't even know if they have any type of license requirement. I mean, 1336 they're everywhere. Ms. Smith pays a hundred dollars. Ms. Ruth pay 175, Bertha pay 90. They 1337 don't show up. They don't come on time. I just think that we need to be able to at least control 1338 some of that narrative on lawn care companies. And, more importantly, they put the debris on the 1339 street and we pick it up. I don't even know what that cost. But, I mean, they just dump it on the 1340 street. 1341 1342 They got some that blow it to the other side of the street. It's just no control, no order. And I 1343 know you're not going to be in some communities on Sunday morning with no blower. You ain't 1344 going to be in lower Roswell with no blower on Sunday, if you can get in their communities. The 1345 next thing I want to talk about, someone mentioned they want to save the city money. I just want 1346 to tell you for the record that for about three years, I did what's called cost containment. I went to 1347 city governments and I approached their Chief Financial Officers and we talked about how to 1348 save organizations money. And what that looked like was that we interviewed department 1349 directors, and we looked at their budgets. 1350 1351 But to sum it all up, what we learned is that most cities, county governments, could save 1352 approximately 20 to 30 percent. This city has never ever done a study on how to save money. It's 1353 done studies on how to spend money, but it's never done studies on how to save money. 1354 So I concur, I want to save the city money as well. So maybe we should start looking at 1355 consulting companies that show cities how to save money. You'd be surprised at the best 1356 practices that come out of that report. 1357 1358 But I was told by a director at City of Atlanta, he says, we're not trying to save money. The only 1359 person seemingly cared about saving money was the Chief Financial Officer or the taxpayers. 1360 The director didn't want to save money. They enjoyed a great life. Which takes me to my next 1361 point. And I'm not trying to be condescending, but cronyism in this city needs to stop. People are 1362 being hired and given an undue advantage because of who they know and not because of what 1363 they know. And the reason why I'm saying that to you is, it makes a difference when you bring in 1364 people in your -- and I don't have a problem with thanking you for what you do -- but it makes a 1365 difference when you bring people in your organization that has the acumen, the skill set, and/or 1366 the education. It makes a difference. 1367 1368 You'll be surprised at the liabilities that we have to discuss in executive session. You'd be 1369 surprised at the torts. And I was telling someone the other day, that, money could be going back Regular Session Page 30 of 33 04/03/2023 1370 into this community than to just -- and another thing is, I come to City Hall, but you don't see 1371 that I'm here, I don't even see people in the office. 1372 1373 I was telling my kids, I said, maybe you shouldn't go to college. Maybe you should just work at 1374 College Park. I mean, there are people who are not even in their office. I don't know what that 1375 means, but we pay good money to our directors. We pay a great salary to our directors. Some of 1376 the highest paid directors per capital in the State. And just to have laissez faire is not how this 1377 organization should work. The other thing is, I'm on the pension board, and I'm going to be 1378 discussing on maybe age and service equal age 65 or 70. Meaning, I agree that people should be 1379 paid more, I get it. But people ought to also to be able to leave when they've provided a service 1380 to this community. A lot of organizations consider age and service. You can't be 65 trying to 1381 work here for 20, 30 years. And it's time to look at that. And it's also time to look at our pension. 1382 1383 A pension is a dinosaur. It's time to sit down and have a hard conversation about pensions and 1384 retirement age. I think that's all I have, Mayor. Just check my notes -- Camp Truitt -- there was a 1385 public comment on Camp Truitt. I spent about 14 years of my professional life on Camp Truitt, 1386 from Michael Hightower, to the late Emma Darnell, to Bill Edwards, yada, yada, yada, yada. 1387 1388 It's going to take the leadership up here to change Camp Truitt. It's the only way Camp Truitt -- 1389 I'm talking to the caller. It's the only way Camp Truitt is ever going to change. You need three 1390 votes and to partner with Fulton County. But what did come out of Camp Truitt is that now the 1391 county invested a lot of money in learning how to do business with Camp Truitt. They know now 1392 about the covenants that Truitt family placed on the deed. So the leadership of Fulton County 1393 know how to work with a public/private relationship with Camp Truitt. It is a jewel. It's a 1394 beautiful piece of land. But, you know, we're spending hundreds of thousand dollars on 1395 Williamburg Corridor, and Camp Truitt is right here in our backyard. It's a priority. It's just what 1396 do people care about. People have a right to care about what they want to care about, and it ain't 1397 Camp Truitt. That's all I have. 1398 1399 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, sir. I want to make sure that we clarify that the 1400 Willingham LCI support is actually not a financial investment on behalf of the city. So I want to 1401 make sure that we are clear on that for those who may be watching, or hadn't had the opportunity 1402 to take a look at the information in our packet. But I do want to, again, for the umpteenth time 1403 welcome you, Mr. Hawthorn. Looking forward to working with you. And thank you, Mr. Myers, 1404 for your leadership over these last several months. And we're grateful to you and everything that 1405 you do for the city. I want to thank the folks at Coca Cola United for a tour. Had a great 1406 opportunity to learn and see more there, had a great group. Chief Rogers was there. Councilman 1407 Carn was there. Director Johnson and I'm forgetting -- Mr. Myers was there for some time as 1408 well. And, yes, Mr. Lewis -- yes, we all had the hair nets on. We looked great. But it is such an 1409 impressive facility. Always so excited to go over and see all the new things that they're doing. I 1410 think that's my third time over there. 1411 1412 And another trip we made last week, we stepped across the border a little bit, I believe. We went 1413 to the Boys & Girls Club and got a great tour over there, as well. And so, I want to thank 1414 everyone for their efforts and showing us around. Because so many of our kids in College Park 1415 are serviced by that Boys & Girls Club and they are doing amazing things with our youth. We're Regular Session Page 31 of 33 04/03/2023 1416 looking forward to continuing our partnership there and strengthening them. As Councilman 1417 Carn said, we were at the National League of Cities Conference and our fearless City Clerk, Ms. 1418 Ames, was there with one of our youth council representative too. So it was a great opportunity 1419 for him to see how government works. And learn more about the ways in youth can participate 1420 and just getting to be in that environment was fantastic. Not only for him, but for me too. It was 1421 great. We really had a fantastic time. And wanted to highlight that I have been selected by NLC 1422 with nine other elected officials across the country to participate in the housing supply 1423 accelerator that they are doing with the American Planning Association. Because access to 1424 housing and affordable housing is an issue that communities, across the United States, are facing. 1425 So we will be working for the next six to eight months on gathering, seeing some of the places 1426 around the country that are doing things very well. 1427 1428 This steering committee is headed up by representatives from the American Planning 1429 Association, Mayor Corey Woods from Tempe, Arizona. He has done some very innovative 1430 things out there and looking forward to working with everyone. I believe that I'm representing 1431 the smallest city out of the 10. But we certainly have a lot to say and lot to contribute to the 1432 conversation. So I'm really looking forward to having the opportunity to participate. As we go 1433 into the budget season, I think it's really important to take a bit of a step back. Because I think we 1434 always have to keep in mind that in order to get through COVID, we did some restructuring of 1435 our debt. And we've been paying on interest only on that debt. So as we are talking about how 1436 we are prioritizing spending, we need to always keep in mind that we've got some fairly big 1437 payments coming along and that should always be in our calculations. So I know that we will 1438 have plenty of time to talk about it, but I did want to bring that up because we've got a lot of 1439 priorities and we've got a lot of things to do. 1440 1441 As I said earlier, I think getting our employees where they need to be should be paramount 1442 because we have not, necessarily, served them as well as we could at points in our history. And 1443 as I said, it's time to put our money where our mouth is when we're talking about our employees 1444 and making sure that they are paid competitive wages. Because we are absolutely fortunate that 1445 people choose to work for this city. And we should recognize that, celebrate it, and appreciate it 1446 on a daily basis. 1447 1448 If you are going to prom this year, and you need a little assistance with a prom dress, Ms. Skippy 1449 can help you over at the Old National outlet mall. She is giving away free prom dresses, sizes 0 1450 to 28. So if you are interested, need more information, you can call her at 937-829-7597. Again, 1451 that's 937-829-7597. She will be over there from Thursday through Sunday, 12 to 5. And I know 1452 because she's been sending me some pictures of some lovely ladies who are ready and all decked 1453 out and very excited. They're doing alterations as well and doing accessories, the whole nine 1454 yards. So if you are, or anyone you know is in need of a prom dress, it is that season; Ms. Skippy 1455 can help you out. 1456 1457 14. Executive Session. 1458 1459 ACTION: Councilman Carn motioned to authorize City Manager Stanley Hawthorne to make 1460 adjustment to 911 and Jailer salaries, Councilman Clay seconded and motion 1461 carried. Regular Session Page 32 of 33 04/03/2023 1462 1463 15. Approval of Executive Session Minutes. 1464 1465 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Executive Session Minutes dated April 3, 1466 2023, seconded by Councilman Allen and motion carried by those present. 1467 1468 16. Adjournment. 1469 1470 Mayor Motley Broom adjourned the meeting at 10:09 p.m. 1471 1472 1473 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 1474 1475 1476 1477 ________________________ 1478 Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor 1479 1480 ATTEST: 1481 1482 1483 1484 ________________________ 1485 Shavala Ames, City Clerk 1486 1487 1488 Regular Session Page 33 of 33 04/03/2023