City Council

1 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 2 MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL 3 REGULAR SESSION 4 APRIL 17, 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 7:31 p.m. 13 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Good evening. Welcome to the regularly scheduled meeting of 14 the Mayor and City Council of the city of College Park. I'm Mayor Bianca Motley Broom. We 15 have a quorum present with Council Members Clay, Carn, and Allen. So it is 7:31 p.m., and I'm 16 calling the meeting to order at this time. 17 1. Opening Ceremonies. 18 19 A. Pledge of allegiance to the flag. 20 21 B. Invocation by Chaplin McKenzie. 22 23 2. Additions, Deletions, Amendments, Or Changes To The Agenda. 24 25 3. Presentation Of Minutes Of City Council. 26 27 A. Regular Session held on April 17, 2023. 28 29 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve Regular Session Minutes dated April 3, 2023, 30 seconded by Councilman Clay and motion carried. 31 32 B. Work Session held on April 17, 2023. 33 34 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve Workshop Session Minutes dated April 3, 35 2023, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. 36 37 4. Proclamations, Resolutions, Plaques, And Announcements. 38 39 5. Remarks Of Citizens. 40 41 MS. AMES: Yes, ma'am. The first person I have is Vashti Lawson to discuss the Youth Council 42 and Cedric Lemons to discuss Youth Council, but I think he's coming alone. 43 44 MR. LEMONS: Good evening. My name is Cedric Lemons. I'm a member of the City of College 45 Park Youth Council. I'm here this evening to share my experience during the NLC Conference. 46 First, I would like to thank the city of College Park's Mayor, City Council members, and staff, 47 for allowing me this opportunity to attend the National League of Cities Conference to 48 Washington, D.C. I would like to thank Councilman Allen for sponsoring my trip and giving me 49 the chance to experience the conference in Washington, D.C. I would also like to thank Ms. 50 Ames for chaperoning me the entire trip. 51 52 My experience to the NLC in Washington, D.C., was amazing. There were activities that were 53 planned before the conference. I was honored to tour the nation’s Capital during a walk through 54 tour. Hearing about the history of the artwork that enhances the Capitol was very interesting. I 55 was amazed at all the details that went into the artwork inside the Capitol. We looked at the 56 buildings and walked to where history had been made. It was an amazing experience. We went to 57 the African American Museum, just one of many exhibits I learned from during slavery. It's that 58 slave mothers could barely cook or clean for their children. They spent so many hours in the field 59 working day and night. It was incredible to contributions to history that African Americans have 60 made. 61 62 The NLC Conference was amazing and a fantastic experience too. I got to interact with youth 63 councils from different cities. There was a young man that came up and spoke about safety. He 64 had been in a car accident in his younger years, and now as a young man, he expressed the 65 importance of being safe. Overall, I can say my trip to Washington, D.C., was memorable and 66 enlightening. I have shared my experiences with my friends and family. This information that I 67 gained during the trip will stay with me for a lifetime. I'm truly grateful for the experience. 68 Thank you all. 69 70 MS. AMES: Next is Cherie Ong to discuss BIDA property. 71 72 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: I think it's Cherie Ong. This item is on the agenda, so I think 73 we're going to be discussing it later. 74 75 MS. AMES: Okay. I have no others and I have no emails. 76 77 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. If anyone wishes to speak, they can come down at this 78 time. They have three minutes. Seeing none others, we will go ahead and move on in the agenda. 79 80 6. Public Hearing 81 82 7. Other Business 83 84 A. Consideration of and action on a request for approval of a Memorandum of 85 Understanding (MOU) between The City of Atlanta and City of College Park 2022 Byrne 86 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program Award. See memorandum dated April 12, 2023, Page 2 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023  87 from Police Chief Connie Rogers recommending approval to use. Also, see attached 88 proposed MOU. 89 90 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: We are on to Item 7(a) consideration of and action on a request 91 for approval of the Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Atlanta and the City of 92 College Park for the 2022 Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program Award. Is there a motion? 93 94 COUNCILMAN CLAY: I move to approve; no brainer. 95 96 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman -- I'm sorry? 97 98 COUNCILMAN CARN: It's a no brainer. 99 100 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. Is there a second? 101 102 COUNCILMAN CARN: Second. 103 104 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Carn. All those in favor? 105 106 RESPONSE: AYE. 107 108 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Any opposed? Any abstentions? That is unanimous. Thank you, 109 gentlemen. 110 111 ACTION: Councilman Clay moved to approve a request from Police Chief Connie Rogers for 112 approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between The City of Atlanta 113 and City of College Park 2022 Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program 114 Award, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. 115 116 B. Consideration of and action on an approval of the 2023-24 Benefit Options & 117 Contributions. See attached memorandum dated April 11, 2023 from Director of Human 118 Resources and Risk Management Dr. Dwight Baker and supporting documentation. 119 120 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Item 7(b) is consideration of and action on approval of 2023 24 121 benefit options and contributions. 122 123 MS. GILBERT: Good evening Mayor and Council. I'm requesting approval for 2023 24 plan 124 year benefits. And I have Ms. Tammy Starky here to speak on that. 125 126 MS. STARKY: Good evening, Mayor and Council. We're going to review the proposed 127 employee benefits renewal plans that would be effective July 1st. So, just as we look at the 128 renewal, we did, in my last presentation with you all, discussed the claims. And the claims were 129 the big impact to the renewal for the health plan. So on average, the per employee cost to the 130 health plan was up 26 percent this plan year. 131 Page 3 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 132 Our loss ratio is at 110 percent over the last 12 months. So really what that means is that, the 133 health plan has paid out 10 percent more in claims than we have paid into premium for the health 134 insurance. So, basically, the health insurance plan is upside down, and so when we look at that 135 history, the insurance carriers, the incumbent carrier Aetna, and the market, will review that to 136 determine what premium is needed to appropriately fund the plan into the new plan year that 137 would be effective July 1st. 138 139 So with that, we did complete a full marketing analysis and renewal negotiations. For the 140 marketing analysis on the health plan, you will see on page 5 of the presentation that we did 141 submit a request for proposal from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, who declined to quote 142 because they were uncompetitive. Cigna declined to quote because they were uncompetitive. 143 Kaiser, we do have a proposal from. And United Healthcare declined to quote because they were 144 uncompetitive. 145 146 So that is all viable carriers for the city plan. As we look at the renewal, just some high level 147 summary, as Aetna underwrote the renewal and they're looking at what the claims have been on 148 the plan for the last 12 months, what the prognosis is for ongoing claimants, and what is needed 149 to fund the plan. The projected increase that was needed was a little over 35 percent or about 1.3 150 million dollars. So we have worked with Aetna. Aetna definitely has partnered with the city to 151 negotiate that necessary increase to appropriately fund the plan, in light of, you know, a long 152 term partnership and the goal of that with the city. 153 154 So the negotiated rate change for the new plan year is 16.3 percent, or a little over $622,000. So, 155 definitely, a great partnership with Aetna on reviewing that with the city and NFP. So you'll see 156 on page 7 just the comparison here of the current plan designs. With the renewal, there is no 157 change to plan design, so no change to copay, deductible, or out of pocket expense to the 158 members on the plan. So you'll see that 16.3 percent increase, but we're also able to discount the 159 health plan further if we package the vision coverage with Aetna. So that's about a $22,000 160 savings in annual premium off the health plan with packaging the vision. 161 162 So you'll see that brings our overall increase to just a little over $600,000 in annual premium or 163 15.7 percent. The proposal from Kaiser, you'll see here, comparison, we highlighted in green 164 anything that would be an enhancement, or a less expense to members, compared to current plan. 165 Yellow is going to be less of a benefit, more of an expense. And then blue, there's just some 166 differences in tiers in coverage, so it goes either way. But quoting as close as possible to current 167 plans with Kaiser is a 17.7 percent increase, or about $677,000. So Aetna's renewal and with the 168 vision discounting is coming in less than the Kaiser proposal, which was the only proposal that 169 was received with the market analysis. 170 171 So with that, the ancillary lines that are up for renewal, one is the vision that is currently with 172 Cigna. And Cigna is not going to continue offering that plan stand alone, where you're not 173 packaging with a medical plan. So the recommendation there is to take advantage of that $22,000 174 in savings on the medical premium and package the vision with Aetna. That will also enhance 175 the plan where, now members will be able to get new contacts or lens for their glasses every 12 176 months. With the Aetna plan, currently, it's every 24 months. So it'll be a bit of benefit 177 enhancement and consolidated administration of the plan; everything on one bill with one carrier. Page 4 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 178 The dental plan with Aetna is no change. The life and disability with New York Life is no 179 change. And then all of your supplemental benefits, there are no changes. With the health plan, 180 the recommendation is to pass on only 5 percent of that increase to employee contributions. 181 And then the ancillary lines would be to renew and vision to package with Aetna. Page 11, you'll 182 see a comparison of current employee contributions by plan, the HMO and the POS plan, and 183 what that difference would be per pay period at the 5 percent increase. 184 185 This does account for the city funding 95 percent of the total increase, or the city currently 186 contributes 83 percent of the cost to the plan, still with this increase. So with this open 187 enrollment education on the plan, the increase, and enrollment assistance would take place May 188 15th to May 19th. This would be the opportunity for employees to receive assistance and 189 understanding their benefits, making their elections, making any changes that they need to make 190 for the new plan year that would start July 1st. Any questions? 191 192 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Ms. Starky. Councilman Clay? 193 194 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Sounds like you've done a good job of negotiating the new plan for us. 195 I'm glad we're not passing on any more than 5 percent to the staff. And the insurers are not a 196 nonprofit, so for our loss ratio is what did you say 110 percent, I think? That, obviously, has to 197 be fixed. So I have no questions. I'm good. 198 199 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Carn? 200 201 COUNCILMAN CARN: Thank you. Couple of things. So we're passing along 5 percent? You 202 said we'd be going up from 95 percent to 83 percent; is that what I heard? 203 204 MS. STARKY: No. Currently, the city funds, I think, 80 percent, and we would go to 83 percent. 205 206 COUNCILMAN CARN: So from 80 to 83 percent? 207 208 MS. STARKY: Correct. 209 210 COUNCILMAN CARN: What is that in dollar amount? 211 212 MS. STARKY: In dollar amount, that's $564,000 increase to the city, $35,000 to the employee, 213 based off of the current enrollment and the plan. 214 215 COUNCILMAN CARN: Okay. So a hundred and ten percent. What else can we do? I see the 216 weekly healthy tips. Is there some more things you can send out to where we can get out to 217 employees? 218 219 MS. STARKY: Absolutely. Aetna is a great partner in focusing on health and wellness, lifestyle 220 related conditions where members are able to make an impact to claims when it is something 221 that's based off of their stress level, their exercise, and their nutrition. And so, Aetna does 222 provide the city with a wellness fund to help with that. So part of that is communication, onsite 223 events, and looking at how do we incentivize those types of activities, help people become aware Page 5 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 224 of what risk factors they may have, and what resources that the city and Aetna provides to help 225 them improve their overall wellbeing. 226 227 COUNCILMAN CARN: You said a wellness plan or wellness fund? 228 229 MS. STARKY: A wellness fund. And then they do have a wellness plan built within, with 230 different resources that the city utilizes throughout the year. 231 232 COUNCILMAN CARN: So employees are getting this wellness plan? 233 234 MS. STARKY: Yes, it is included with-- 235 236 COUNCILMAN CARN: So that's something I guess I haven't seen. I see the emails for the 237 health tips. So it's more to the package that everyone's getting? 238 239 MS. GILBERT: We're going to host a wellness, like a day when we do our open enrollment. And 240 we're going to be giving all the employees a Fitbit, and we're going to start doing those type of 241 activities, like a walking challenge and all of that. 242 243 COUNCILMAN CARN: All right. Okay. Sounds good. All right. Thank you. 244 245 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Allen? 246 247 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Chris and I talked this afternoon a little bit, so I've looked through it, 248 and don't have any questions. Thank you. 249 250 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Gay? 251 252 COUNCILMAN GAY: Yes, ma'am. I just want to make a comment and ask a question. In years 253 past I've been on council, our broker was able to negotiate with Kaiser, who was the health 254 provider at the time, not to increase our premiums in exchange for re enrollment with them. Are 255 y'all able to speak to them about -- I know Kaiser --I see they quoted, but they went up. They're 256 asking for an increase, but I'm just saying, we've had risks before and they didn't go up in 257 exchange for getting re selected. 258 259 MS. STARKY: Right. So the city's experience with claims has changed over the last few years. 260 It's become more of a risk. A lot of that due to COVID, and we've seen that with a lot of our city 261 and county government clients, and just employers, in general. So when we came in and 262 negotiated, we actually negotiated decreases from Kaiser to the Humana change. We saw savings 263 year over year, but that was in a positive environment where our loss ratio was not upside down. 264 So in this environment, we've been able to negotiate from that 35 percent increase that's needed 265 to fund the plan to the 16 percent increase, which should be appropriately moving forward and a 266 long-term partnership as we work to improve the risk on the plan, improve the health of the 267 population. Aetna is looking to partner with the city for that negotiation moving forward so that 268 we can work together to improve risks and write the funding of the plan. 269 Page 6 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 270 COUNCILMAN GAY: I agree, but -- and you may want to just go back with the HR team we 271 had some pretty considerable risks. I do appreciate and agree with you about COVID. But we 272 had some substantial risks. We had – you know, I don't want to get into the medical, but they 273 were quite substantial. And I do remember it being comparable to how we're upside down, and it 274 did not increase our premiums. The other thing we may want to look at is, we went from 275 centralized healthcare to choice. In other words, one of the things -- one of the benefits that you 276 get from a centralized provider like Kaiser is, just being a little bit more cost effective with the 277 care. 278 279 When everybody can go to different doctors, you're going to get a different claim rate. So that's 280 another thing, we as executive people, have to kind of look at too. Centralized versus PPO 281 choice, you get a higher rate. So at the end of the day, you still might still be paying more. And 282 these are just some of the things we may need to consider. 283 284 MS. STARKY: Right. And definitely the discounted rates available in different networks is part 285 of our analysis. So the average discount with Aetna within this plan year has been 56.9 percent, 286 which is very substantial. It is more than what we would expect within the Metro Atlanta area, 287 especially, with being able to provide that choice that you mentioned. 99.6 percent of claims 288 have been in network, meaning, that the network is appropriate for the utilization. The 289 employees are utilizing that choice of providers that they have. And some of top utilized 290 providers are not in the Kaiser network. So in all, really individual providers, would not be in 291 that HMO network and the top utilized hospital providers that members are using are not in the 292 Kaiser network. So with Kaiser coming in at a higher premium and a more restricted network, 293 the recommendation would be Aetna. 294 295 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Any other questions? 296 297 COUNCILMAN CARN: Yeah. You said 56 percent of claims is in network. 298 299 MS. STARKY: No. 99.6 percent of claims are in network. The network discount is 56 percent. 300 So, meaning, whatever was submitted as the charge, it's discounted 56 percent. 301 302 COUNCILMAN CARN: Okay. And Christa, I don't know if you can answer this, or if you can 303 just get it for me at some other date, but I'd like to know what percentage of staff opts out of our 304 city coverage. I'd just like to know that at some point. 305 306 MS. GILBERT: Okay. I'll get that for you. 307 308 COUNCILMAN CARN: It'd be good to know. All right. 309 310 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Any other questions? Is there a motion? 311 312 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: So moved. 313 314 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Allen. Is there a second? 315 Page 7 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 316 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Second. 317 318 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. All those in favor? 319 320 RESPONSE: AYE. 321 322 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Those opposed? Any abstentions? Councilman Gay, what is your 323 vote; I'm sorry? 324 325 COUNCILMAN GAY: I'm still thinking. I think I'm going to abstain. 326 327 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All right. So, Councilman Clay, Councilman Carn, Councilman 328 Allen are in favor, Councilman Gay abstains. The motion passes. 329 330 ACTION: Councilman Allen motioned to approve a request from Director of Human 331 Resources and Risk Management Dr. Dwight Baker for approval of the 2023-24 332 Benefit Options & Contributions, Councilman Clay seconded, Councilman Gay 333 abstain, and motion carried. 334 335 C. Consideration of and action on a request for approval from Good Places, LLC for a 336 conditional height permit for Ion Princeton Village development. See memorandum from 337 City Planner Angela Rambeau dated April 12, 2023 and supporting documentation. 338 339 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Item 7(c) is consideration of and action on a request for approval 340 from Good Places, LLC, for a conditional height permit for Ion Princeton Village development. 341 Good evening, Ms. Rambeau. 342 343 MS. RAMBEAU: Good evening, Mayor, Council members. As stated, before you tonight, we 344 have a conditional height permit for assemblage of property that's located at the northwest corner 345 of Washington Street and Princeton Avenue. These properties are currently owned by BIDA. 346 And will eventually be bought by Good Places, LLC. Just to give you some background, the 347 properties are currently zoned TOD, transit oriented development. The applicant is proposing to 348 construct a four-story 55-foot tall multi-family building. 349 350 And since this exceeds the allowed height for the area, the applicant is requesting this before 351 mentioned conditional high permit. Just to bring it back to your memory, a few years ago, I 352 believe that was two years ago, Good Places went through this process for the first phase of their 353 project. They received a conditional height permit and several variances for their first building. 354 And, basically, they're asking for the same permission and relief once again. I have an analysis 355 for you. Per Section 14.15, the City Council may issue a conditional height zoning permit, which 356 will increase limits of a building provided the following conditions are met: 357 358 Number one, in terms of the proposed height, the applicant has applied for a conditional height 359 zoning permit and information to identify the type of development, it's maximum proposed 360 height and the details of the proposed development has been provided. The applicant would need 361 to guarantee maintenance of accessibility for firefighting equipment throughout the period of Page 8 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 362 construction and thereafter, including non-combustible stairs and stand pipe with water under 363 pressure to every floor. 364 365 Number two, the city's comprehensive plan caused for medium density residential in this area. 366 The proposed development is in harmony with the city's comprehensive development plan. And 367 the proposed development is of such character as to be an asset to the immediate neighborhood. 368 Number three, the proposed development will not unduly restrict the light and air to surrounding 369 properties. The applicant has applied for a height variance through the FAA, and this is pending. 370 The proposed development currently does not meet all the requirements for the zoning district 371 other than the height limitations; however, a variance to allow residents on the interior ground 372 floor of the building is pending. The side yard, front yard, and rear setbacks do not currently 373 meet the TOD district's requirement. However, the proposed development has a pending 374 variance to reduce the front and rear yard setbacks. 375 376 In conclusion, staff recommends approval with conditions of the conditional height permit. The 377 conditions are as follows: Compliance with Section 14.5, the FAA approval of the height 378 increase, approval of the variance for residents on the interior ground floor, and approval of the 379 variance for the front and rear setback reductions. That concludes my presentation. We do have 380 the applicant here this evening. And Michelle Alexander, Economic Development, is here in case 381 there are any questions, as well. 382 383 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Ms. Rambeau. We'll start with Councilman Clay. 384 385 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Yeah, I've got several questions and I gave you a heads up to sort of 386 where I was coming from. That land has morphed, I believe. What was it originally planned to be 387 used for the church? 388 389 MS. RAMBEAU: That's probably a question for the applicant. I haven't been here to see those 390 reiterations. 391 392 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Maybe Michelle knows -- can refresh our memories. 393 394 MS. ALEXANDER: I also don't have firsthand knowledge. I was just informed a conference 395 center was – 396 397 COUNCILMAN CLAY: I think it was -- wasn't it a parking lot, originally, and then it was a 398 conference center. 399 400 MS. ALEXANDER: I can -- I apologize. I can only speak since I've been here and the approvals 401 that -- 402 403 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Let me say what I think it was. And then anybody who wishes to speak 404 up and contradict me and correct me, or forever hold your peace, as they say in a wedding 405 ceremony -- I think it was a parking lot, initially, intended. Then it morphed into an office center. 406 And then it has morphed into a multi-family unit. And all of a sudden, we've got problems with 407 setbacks. And we're doing a height variance on it, presumably, so that we can get in a floor that Page 9 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 408 we couldn't get in without the height variance. 409 410 So where I'm coming from is that this has gradually transitioned, and I'm concerned about what 411 we -- way back in the beginning were concerned about, I think, was parking. And I think we 412 eased the parking requirements because it was a TOD, for one thing. At one point I think we 413 said, well, as a conference center, the people were only going to be there during the day and the 414 residents would be there at night and that would ease the parking situation. So residents from 415 elsewhere in the complex could park in that lot and so forth. 416 417 We already gave some ground in the parking along -- I think it's Washington Street, if I 418 remember right -- but, Ken, you can help me out; that's your Ward. We gave some ground there 419 where we are time sharing some of the parking places. During the day, they're used by the people 420 who are visiting, and at night, they're used by the people that live there. 421 422 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Correct. 423 424 COUNCILMAN CLAY: And those who don't abide by those will create some need for some 425 kind of enforcement. And they indicated, I think, the church or the project, I should say, not the 426 church, indicated that those would be enforced by that project. The city wouldn't be towing them 427 away. It would be somebody else that would be towing them away. So this has now moved into a 428 residential facility, which I believe will probably have higher parking requirements than we had 429 when it was a conference center. And we're presumably doing a height change on it, because if 430 we didn't have that height change, I presume we would not have one floor on there. So how 431 many floors do we have now, four is it? 432 433 So, presumably, if we didn't do the height approval, we'd only have three floors. And, 434 presumably, you would have fewer families needing a parking place. So I'm just concerned if 435 us -- sort of like the frog and the pan of water that's heating up. The frog doesn't jump out in time 436 until it's boiling; it's too late. I just really worry about the parking situation over there. And now, 437 we've got a setback issue. If we didn't have the top floor, maybe we -- I don't know. I just have a 438 bad feeling that we're getting ourselves into a situation that is going to cause a problem in the 439 area. It's not my Ward. It's Ken's Ward. I defer more to his opinion on it than mine. 440 441 Don't get me wrong, I love the project. I think it is a fantastic project, at least, the first phase is a 442 fantastic project. And I think a good affordable housing case for the second phase, which I 443 believe this is intended to be is also a good thing for our city. But sooner or later, we're going to 444 have to address the congestion and the parking. And so, I'd love to hear what other people have 445 to say on council. 446 447 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Ms. Alexander, did you want to respond? 448 449 MS. ALEXANDER: Well, I just wanted -- we completely hear your concerns about parking, and 450 we heard it when it was well over hours of discussion before the development authority, and 451 before this Body, before you approved it. And so, I just wanted to be clear what staff is bringing 452 to you is a project that was approved for this many units. So it was around 60 units. We knew it 453 was going to be multiple stories high. And so, it's something that's been approved as a project to 454 move forward. We brought to you and to the development authority, which approved the project. Page 10 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 455 We brought forth the compliance with parking that they meet, whoever comes, whether it's this 456 project or another project that they're able to comply with our code for parking. 457 458 So I did ask Angela and our city engineer to take a look what it would take to do a review for the 459 overall TOD. Because you don't want to treat one property differently than another. If you meet 460 the code, you should meet the code. But if the code is a problem, then that's, I would say, 461 separate from this particular, for specific. So they are meeting the code on the parking, which 462 was really, I understood, the predicate, the basis for the approval of the project at all. And, again, 463 any project that comes through there to get the height, or to get the density that TOD offers, 464 because you want the density to drive our additional retail and commercial is going to need a 465 height, conditional height. 466 467 COUNCILMAN CLAY: What worries me in what you said, Michelle, is that we aren't going to 468 do any parking study in the next week, so what if all is said and done, we say, oops, yep, gosh, 469 we do have a parking problem. 470 471 MS. ALEXANDER: I would say -- all I can answer is we're under contract with the project and 472 approved that they could meet the parking code. So I can only speak to mitigating and pursuing 473 further and present you with the fact of commitment, an approved commitment by this Body and 474 your development authority. 475 476 COUNCILMAN CLAY: But it's piece by piece. It's okay with the code. I presume it's BZA that's 477 approved the setbacks; is that correct? 478 479 MS. ALEXANDER: It would have to go before them. 480 481 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Has it been before them? 482 483 MS. RAINA: It's pending. They'll be hearing that at their next meeting. 484 485 COUNCILMAN CLAY: So what if they don't approve the setbacks? 486 487 MS. RAINA: Then we go back to the drawing board. 488 489 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Well, I'm not on BZA. I'm not going to tell BZA what to say. I just 490 have a feeling that we're eroding away our good sense standards piece by piece. Okay, this one's 491 okay, we can do that. Then we come over here, oh, well, here's another one. Well, yeah, we can 492 do that. And then you got another one. And pretty soon, you have a whole different project. And 493 I'm not saying we want to deal -- God knows I don't want to discard the project, but is there a 494 way to change it in such a way that if we had fewer rooms, then BZA wouldn’t have to approve 495 different setbacks. Because the perimeter of the building would be smaller. 496 If we didn't have as many rooms, we wouldn't be having to get approval for people on the first 497 floor. The other thing I worry about is, if we have a congested parking situation over there, are 498 the fire trucks going to get through? 499 500 And, I guess, Chief Elmore has okayed that. Have you, Chief? Page 11 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 501 502 CHIEF ELMORE: At this time, we have not been consulted about that. 503 504 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: If I can interrupt -- I hate to interrupt but – 505 506 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Go ahead. 507 508 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I went over and measured Washington Road, 22-1/2 feet from curb to 509 curb. All right. If there's parking on the side, there's no -- if there's parking on one side -- I put 510 my truck there, measured from the truck over, there's 17-1/2 feet, or 15-1/2 feet. And if you put a 511 fire truck there, and if it's four stories, you're going to extend the legs. And I don't believe you 512 can get that on that street. 513 514 CHIEF ELMORE: Probably couldn't. It's too narrow. 515 516 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Now, you might be able to get on the other, so you would have to 517 drive back behind the building where there's parking and set up your truck where you could get 518 to the top floor. That, also, was a big concern of mine. The other street, Princeton, is a little bit 519 wider, like about 7 foot, something like that. But that's also one of my concerns that I'll get into 520 later, but I just wanted to interrupt right there. 521 522 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Clay, did you have anything else? 523 524 COUNCILMAN CLAY: I'm done. 525 526 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Carn? 527 528 COUNCILMAN CARN: Couple of things. Okay. So the fire department, for the record, has not 529 received and approved these plans? 530 531 MS. RAINA: We don't have plans for him to review at this point. 532 533 COUNCILMAN CARN: So is that a yes or a no? 534 535 MS. RAINA: That would be a no. They have not submitted for an LDP or building plan. 536 537 COUNCILMAN CARN: I'm trying to get my memory correct with this. Now, was this the 538 situation with the bait and switch, with the whole parking swappidy doo? Is this that one? 539 540 MS. ALEXANDER: I don't know about a bait and switch. 541 542 COUNCILMAN CARN: Okay. Well, here's what I recall about that. And my memory 543 sometimes leaves me -- Michelle, I don't think you were here when this thing started. I think it 544 was another economic development director here. And correct me if I'm wrong, from what I 545 understood, here's what happened -- and City Manager, I want you to kind of get caught up to 546 speed with some of this stuff so you kind of know some of the things that go on and whatever Page 12 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 547 have you. My understanding was, this was a situation that came before BIDA, at some point -- 548 and, again, Michelle, this is not on you. This was before you got here, apparently. And my 549 understanding is that this mixed use development project, so on and so forth, TOD project, these 550 parcels were city parcels that someone wanted to purchase; is that right? Or was this -- 551 552 MS. ALEXANDER: So the property -- this is a property that -- the record I do have and can 553 share -- this is a property that was offered for purchase. There was some confusion about the 554 deed restricted status, and that caused some frustration. Because some of the members didn't 555 realize -- didn't know for sure if it was deed restricted. There are a lot of properties there. 556 Because it was purchased from the airport, there was an assumption that almost all of them will 557 be deed restricted. When the title -- in any case, there was a purchase price that was not based on 558 being deed restricted. I think that's where the confusion came in. Because it was a higher, more at 559 market rate that it was sold for. 560 561 And after the property went under contract, during title search, and that's when I was here, during 562 title search, it was revealed, it is not deed restricted for residential. So the offer -- the buyer asked 563 permission to change their contract to allow this mixed income, and came before this board and 564 before BIDA, to amend their contract, given that it's no longer deed restricted. And both the 565 Bodies approved that by consensus, and the development authority by authority amended that 566 contract. So that's the property; yes. 567 568 COUNCILMAN CARN: This is the same one I remember. 569 570 MS. ALEXANDER: Okay. 571 572 COUNCILMAN CARN: Some of what she said sounds right, but there's a little twist in there. 573 And here's where I think the change happened. This property was presented as deed restricted 574 property, which meant it could not be utilized for residential development. Which significantly 575 would have reduced the value of the property that we were going to sell to so-and-so or whoever 576 it was. So BIDA was asking a question, well, why are we selling this property so cheaply? And 577 the explanation, apparently, was, well, we're selling it so cheaply because you can't -- it's deed 578 restricted and you can't build residential on it. That's why the bargain basement prices. 579 580 So BIDA, apparently, went by the information they were given and said, well, okay, then we'll 581 give it to you for very little. Okay. Then we turn around and someone sends a letter and says, 582 oh -- after we've signed the contract, property sold -- well, you know we were mistaken. Turns 583 out that it wasn't deed restricted after all, and we can build residential on it. So someone's like, 584 well, thank you very much for the great bargain that you gave us. And this is where we are. This 585 is why there's some confusion with this for me. And, you know, if you've ever been in New York 586 City and they play hide the pea, where you can't figure out what cup it's under. It reminds me of 587 something like that. Now, why was this pulled from the last BZA agenda? Was this the same 588 item that was pulled when the whole thing cancelled at the last BZA? Was this that? 589 590 MS. RAINA: Yes, it was. 591 592 COUNCILMAN CARN: Explain to me exactly the reason why the -- I think the whole meeting Page 13 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 593 was cancelled, if I'm not mistaken. 594 595 MS. RAINA: The meeting wasn't cancelled. We got moved from our location due to the budget 596 hearings. This item was pulled because all of the advertising requirements were not met. The 597 letters didn't get sent out in time. 598 599 COUNCILMAN CARN: Okay. Has BIDA seen this request? Has this request come before the 600 BIDA board, this one here? 601 602 MS. ALEXANDER: No. BIDA would not see any of these sort of variance requests, typically, or 603 a height -- especially the height conditional permits, since most projects that we'll do are going to 604 need a height variance from this board, whoever builds on this site. 605 606 COUNCILMAN CARN: Okay. Second question: Did BIDA approve this project for a four-story 607 building? 608 609 MS. ALEXANDER: They approved it for the 61 units, and understood the size on the site. So we 610 didn't have the specific four-stories; no, I don't think we emphasized the -- we have the envelope 611 and the drawing of what was required on the site, because we were focused on parking at the 612 time to demonstrate we could meet parking. The height, again, it was the overall project and the 613 60 units of low income -- medium -- excuse me -- mixed income project. That was the project -- 614 the use that was proposed. And, tonight, the request is regarding the height. 615 616 COUNCILMAN CARN: Is that a yes or a no? Did BIDA approve this project for a four-story 617 building? 618 619 MS. ALEXANDER: No. They didn't know what the height was going to be. 620 621 COUNCILMAN CARN: So it's a no. 622 623 MS. ALEXANDER: They approved the number of units, 60 units on that size. 624 625 COUNCILMAN CARN: So they did not approve the height on this building right now. Let's 626 keep it within the staff here. Give me the details on the setback situation and how it varies and 627 what's the normal required setback for something like this? 628 629 MS. RAINA: I don't know them off the top of my head, but I think it's something like 15 feet. 630 And they're requesting, basically, zero. 631 632 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Zero? 633 634 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Zero, right on the curb. 635 636 COUNCILMAN CARN: Well, here's my thing – 637 638 LADY IN AUDIENCE: 5. 639 Page 14 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 640 COUNCILMAN CARN: I want to say for the record, we want new development. We want good 641 development but, you know, we don't want a situation that, you know -- when I found out about 642 the changes, I said to myself, something doesn't smell right with this situation. So now it's not in 643 my district, but I've been up here long enough to know when, you know, my BS detector goes off 644 sometimes. And, City Manager, I was told I was born at night, but I wasn't born last night. So I'm 645 not comfortable with it. I think if this goes back, I guess, in a sense, to the drawing board, in a 646 sense, not that it's not a good development, but, you know, we're not just going to give land away 647 now, you know. 648 649 We've got a lot of debt service to pay off. And, you know, I'm not against development coming 650 in, but you need to come in, and if you're going to pay what the land is worth, you need to pay 651 what the land is worth. That's all I got for now. 652 653 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Allen? 654 655 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Yeah, I've got a lot of questions, some that you've already covered; 656 the parking. As I mentioned, I think after the fire department takes a look at it, I think when you 657 look with four story and you put legs out on the site, you're going to have to block off both sides 658 of the street on Washington where nobody can park there, first of all. I think you're probably 659 going to have to block off at least one side of Princeton, so the fire truck will be able to get down 660 there. They're going to be requesting a side yard setback from 15 feet to 5 feet, a front yard 661 setback from 15 feet to 5 feet, a rear setback from 25 feet from the line to 5 feet from the line. 662 I don't know if you talked with any of the neighbors around there -- I've walked the lot several 663 times looking at the map, and I don't know if you can see the map or you have your drawing 664 where they have their drawing of the building, which is in four stories. 665 666 Back in the corner, it says, storm water detention. That is right on the line. So it's going to be 5 667 feet from the property line. The people's house that have the house that's being lived in right 668 now, is also about 5 feet from their line. So the storm water detention pond is going to be 669 probably closer to their house than you are to me right now, which means, lots of mosquitoes. 670 It means their property value may or may not go down. I know I would not want one right beside 671 my house. I've got problems with that, and I don't know if you talked with the neighbors. Have 672 y'all talked with the neighbors at all? 673 674 MS. ONG: Can I make some comments? 675 676 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: About the neighbors, yeah. 677 678 MS. ONG: About the storm water. Is that a big concern? 679 680 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: That's one of my concerns; yes. 681 682 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Can you come to microphone, and say who you are. 683 684 MS. ONG: I'm Cherie Ong, CEO of Good Places. We're excited about this product, first of all. 685 And, specifically, in regard to storm water, we haven't analyzed exactly how it's going to work Page 15 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 686 yet because we haven't gotten to that stage of civil drawings. But there is an option to put the 687 storm water underground. And we are looking at the cost of underground storm water, as well. 688 So even though that picture shows some allowance, if we have to go overground, our preference 689 actually is to go underground with the storm water. 690 And all this situation with the height is not any different from what we've already built on the 691 Diamond in College Park. None of the setbacks are different either. There's nothing shady going 692 on. We are genuinely here to offer affordable housing. So the reason why we're doing all of this 693 is actually because without the scale, without the number of units that we're requesting, we 694 cannot apply to DCA. 695 696 So we cannot apply -- it won't be feasible for us to do this project together with DCA, the 697 Department of Community Affairs, which then makes the whole project affordable. So the 698 decision now to not just about do we want the density. The decision is actually about do we want 699 this affordable. And so, yes, could we reduce the density? Could we reduce a lot of that? We 700 could, but then we'll end up with a different type of product that is not affordable. So I just want 701 to make everyone keenly aware that we have a very strict deadline of May 19th to apply to DCA 702 for all these variances and setbacks -- I mean, height permits, to go through in time for the 703 application that ends on May 19th. 704 705 And so, we have one shot at this, and that's today. And that's at the next BZA meeting. If it is not 706 approved, then, unfortunately, we will not get, you know -- we're talking about a significant 707 contribution from the federal and state tax credits, which the city, I think, could really benefit 708 from. It's paying for the cost of building more parking. It's paying for a lot of the things that, at 709 the end of the day, is not going to be feasible on a lower density project. So I'm trying to make it 710 as clear as possible, kind of what's going on. There's nothing shady behind it. We have delivered 711 everything as we have said that we would deliver. It's taken a little bit longer because of COVID 712 and various reasons. We have done a lot of due diligence on this property, which then revealed 713 that we can actually put housing, which is actually the highest and best use for the property. 714 715 So if any questions, I'm really happy we have our low income tax credit partner here, TBG, and 716 they've also delivered another project in College Park before. So we’re open to whatever 717 questions that you have. We will comply with all the parking requirements, all the code 718 requirements that is a condition of the sale; we totally understand that. 719 720 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: But if I can remember, and Councilman Clay, you might have to help, 721 when y'all did the Diamond project, a lot came up at the very last minute and it had to be done 722 quick, and it had to be so you could get the approval for money and so forth at the same time 723 there. When we cut, we had to make concessions cutting into the sidewalk where you could have 724 parking. And I think you're going to have problems with that, because I think people are going to 725 park there during the daytime and not park there at night. 726 727 And then you all said you would ticket them and have them moved. Well, I think you're going to 728 have a problem with that. I see the parking back where you originally had put it, where you 729 going to put a lot of parking where people from the Diamond project are going to have to walk 730 around. I know -- and I'm just personally talking about myself -- if I lived in that project, it 731 would bother me to walk around, park my car, come back and bring groceries and other things. I Page 16 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 732 don't think there's any parking for the retail there. 733 734 It's going to be hard for them to find retail, unless they go down to that parking lot. So I've 735 always thought that they're going to have a problem there without -- if you put the three stories, 736 what would you do? 737 738 MS. ONG: So if we went to three stories, it may or may not be feasible to -- again, it's a question 739 of affordability. So it's not about can we do something less dense. 740 741 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: If you didn't get the setbacks, what would you do? 742 743 MS. ONG: That's what I'm saying. Like I think we would have go back to the drawing board, 744 potentially, not get the credits from the Department of Community Affairs. And then we're 745 looking at a different product. So at the end of the day, it's our commitment to affordability is 746 really high, so this is our first choice. You know, as city, obviously, you have the ability to also 747 vote on what kind of tradeoff between density and affordability. But, unfortunately, with DCA, 748 and Sarah has been joining us for, you know, way, way longer than we have. She can explain to 749 you why, you know, Department of Community Affairs, requires essentially a right number of 750 units before they're going to invest. So, I don't know, Sarah, you want to give a little bit of 751 background, if you want to hear why it needs to be at this density. 752 753 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I just got too many other problems with parking, with blocking off the 754 street, with fire trucks. It just seems like there's just one problem after another problem after 755 another problem. 756 757 MS. BUCKNER: If I can speak? My name is Sarah Buckner and I'm with TBG Residential, and 758 we're a partner -- 759 760 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Could you speak up a little, please. 761 762 MS. BUCKNER: Sorry. My name is Sarah Buckner, I'm with TBG Residential and we're a 763 partner with Good Places on this deal. As far as parking goes, you know, we said that we're 764 going to comply with your zoning code. We have to for DCA. We have to for our investors. 765 Our goal here is to have all parking on site. That is the goal. That is what we want for our 766 residents. TBG, we're also the full-time managers of all of our properties. So when you talk -- I 767 know -- was that you, Councilman Clay, that talked about towing, I think, a little bit earlier. We 768 have a full-time onsite manager and a part-time manager, as well, at this community, assuming 769 that it gets built. 770 771 So towing, or things of that nature is your issue, how do we regulate it? That's great. We've got a 772 full-time manager to do that onsite. And then, as far as I know the fire is a concern. We have to 773 comply with fire codes. There's no way around that. 774 775 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Oh, I know that. I'm just -- 776 777 MS. BUCKNER: We would never not comply. And so, I think, you know, if the height permit is Page 17 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 778 granted, which would be fantastic, because really we need the height for affordability for this to 779 get built. It's the only way that we're really going to see it get built just because of the 780 underwriting of it.The moment we reduce down to, I don't know, 20 units, it's no longer 781 financially feasible. So here's a great opportunity to bring more affordability to College Park. 782 783 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I think we probably need to look at our parking. You're going to have 784 60 units there and you're going to have 45 parking places. A lot of families have two cars. And I 785 know what the code says, but I think we need to look at the codes because that gives me a 786 problem. And what they're going to do is they're going to bump over to your other lot, in my 787 opinion. 788 789 MS. BUCKNER: What other lot? 790 791 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: The lot right across the street from there that you're building the 792 parking. You're putting a parking lot, you said, unless you've changed your mind again. 793 794 MS. BUCKNER: Sorry, we're a different partner than that deal. What I do understand too, is that 795 I know a lot of families have more than one car now. And I think being in this space in 796 developing throughout all different municipalities in Georgia and Alabama, it's what we've 797 experienced is that the closer you are to Mass transit -- and I really do understand -- but that need 798 goes down a little bit. We're within a quarter of a mile of the College Park MARTA transit 799 station. That's going to provide so much access for our residents. It really, really does. 800 801 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Oh, I think it will. I think they will get on the MARTA. But I think 802 they will need -- if they go downtown -- but I think they will need more than 45 spots for 60 803 apartments. 804 805 MS. BUCKNER: I hear you on that. I really do. We've experienced with talking to architects and 806 other developers in this space is that around .5 spaces per unit really, when you're that close to 807 proximity to transit, is doable. It's fine for our residents. We're going at, I think, at .75 spaces per 808 unit. So we feel confident, as a management company, as an owner in this deal, that it will work. 809 But I do understand, and that's our point of view. It's not yours, and I do respect that; I really 810 do.But I think just what we've seen throughout the city and different communities is that it 811 works. On a side note too, we have no interest in managing something or owning something that 812 doesn't -- that's going to be a pain, you know. I mean, it creates more work for us down the line. 813 And as a long-term owner in this property for at least 15 years, we deeply care about what this 814 community looks like, how our residents are provided for, and being a partner to College Park in 815 a long-term. So I respect all the concerns, and I want to work with you guys. I just want to know 816 we're also not trying to come in and build something to build something. 817 818 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: If I say okay, I'm okay with the parking, but you can't have the 819 setback, what would you do then? 820 821 MS. BUCKNER: If I can have the parking and not have the setbacks? 822 823 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: You wouldn't have the parking if you didn't have the setbacks that Page 18 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 824 close to the curb. 825 826 MS. BUCKNER: I think that we need the setbacks to create enough space. I mean, look, we need 827 it all. That's why we asked for it. 828 829 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: You're looking for a front setback. You're looking for a side setback. 830 You're looking for a back setback from 25 feet to 5 feet. You're going to put a detention pond 831 there, or put it underground that's going to be 5 feet from another house over there. You're going 832 to put a four-story building right there that's going to be right across from other BIDA properties 833 that we're trying to sell, on that corner, and right next to it. If you would buy that property and 834 put a parking lot, I'd feel a lot better. But, you know, I'm sorry, I have lots of problems with it. 835 And, again, I don't know -- I got four stories, well, you gotta have that. Wide setback, well, 836 you've gotta have that. So we're going to give problems to our fire department. We're going to 837 block off the streets where people can't park, because the roads too narrow to get a fire truck 838 down there. It's going to be redlined all the way down. 839 840 MS. ONG: Can I speak a little bit to the fire thing? And correct me if I'm wrong, but on 841 Washington, when you -- when the City Council gave us the easement to do the curb cuts, we 842 actually made the street fire compliant. 843 844 So, originally, all along Washington, the pad residents would park along Washington, and there 845 was no curb cut. So it actually was illegal. So they were all parking illegally along Washington 846 where there was actually not enough space for a fire truck. When you guys in and graciously 847 allowed us to do the curb cuts, we made those parking spaces now legal. And we paid for all of 848 that cost to make it legal, so that now, those parking spaces, 12 of those spaces are now actually 849 legally available during the day for anyone; right. 850 851 And so, to some extent, I feel like it's a win-win. We helped pay for it. We made those parking 852 spaces legal. And we now -- the fire trucks can legally come through, if there was something to 853 happen. So we're hoping that this will be a win-win, you know, from just a development and 854 working with the city's standpoint. 855 856 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: At that point, you came to us and said, you've got to make that curb 857 cuts, or we're not going to be able to build these buildings, because these people need to have 858 places to park. And you said, without that, we can't rent the town homes, so we gotta have your 859 exception to this. We need to have y'all make an exception to that. 860 861 MS. ONG: It was all win-win. My whole point is that it's a win-win. 862 863 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: The just seems like there's one exception after exception after 864 variance. And you gotta get the FAA's approval. To me, there's just too much. And that's all I've 865 got. 866 867 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Gay? 868 869 COUNCILMAN GAY: I would like to ask the question. I'm just curious. I haven't followed this 870 project as much as my colleagues. But, question, the tax credit that you're applying for, that's not Page 19 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 871 guaranteed; right? That's competitive; right? 872 873 MS. BUCKNER: It's -- they're a competitive process; yes. 874 875 COUNCILMAN GAY: So let's assume for a minute, you said that these apartments, being 876 affordable housing, is based on you all getting a tax credit; okay. Let's assume for a minute, you 877 don't get the tax credit. So will they be affordable, or not? 878 879 MS. BUCKNER: If we don't get this state tax credit, we won't build. I don't know what Good 880 Places -- Good Places will own the land and they'll do something else with the community. But I 881 will say, without state tax credits, we can't make it affordable, as affordable. 882 So through this specific program, this is what we're doing; yes. 883 884 COUNCILMAN GAY: So when developers come to us -- I wasn't following it on the onsite. So 885 when developers come to us and say they're going to develop affordable housing, staff tend to 886 think, oh, wow, this is a great benefit to the citizens. But you're not telling the whole story. I'm 887 having this problem with Rocklyn Homes. They sold me on a situation, and then they came back 888 with a density issue. And then when it was said and built, it don't look like what they said. 889 890 So I say that to say this, since it's not guaranteed that you're going to get the tax credits, you can 891 say tonight that this may not even be an affordable development. And the other question I want 892 to ask you is, where in the tax credit does it say, you have to have X amount of density to build 893 awarded the tax credit? You could be awarded the tax credit on the first building you're building. 894 895 MS. BUCKNER: So answering just the second part of your question and I can let Cherrie speak 896 to the first part. It doesn't specifically say that you have to have 60 units. What we're getting at, is 897 that, if you can't create enough density in your deal, in this site, then the financial underwriting 898 no longer works to build. So that's really what our issue is here. If we're set to, you know, three 899 stories and all ground floor residential, maybe that puts you at 20 units. That's no longer 900 financially feasible. And so, therefore, it wouldn't work. And DCA has a whole underwriting 901 process. So that's really the first part. 902 903 COUNCILMAN GAY: I see. One final question, because people have already asked me about 904 the development that's going up now in terms of affordability. What does affordability mean in a 905 multi-family? I know what it means -- they've taught me what it means in single family. So what 906 does affordability mean in multi-family? 907 908 MS. BUCKNER: So, specifically, for this program, we're funded by low-income housing state 909 tax credits. And so, this whole entire hundred percent of this apartment complex will be 910 affordable, and that means, on average, at least 60 percent AMI, area median income. So that is 911 something that HUD publishes every year for each specific, you know, geographic region. 912 So this is going to be a mixed income development. So that's going to capture residents, and 913 community members, as low as 40 percent of the area median income. And then as high as, you 914 know, 60 percent, some 80 percent units. So it's really going to have a whole range of 915 developments capturing lower income -- it's all low income, as defined by HUD. 916 Page 20 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 917 MS. ONG: I think to give them a range, in terms of -- I think with Diamond College Park, it is 918 something like families, who collectively earn less than $50,000 a year. So we're really giving 919 opportunities to families who actually cannot afford to live in these areas, as well as, in such a 920 nice apartment unit. And so, this is -- that is really the goal of these types of developments. And 921 you can maybe speak more to the AMI, but for this project. But I think over there, it was families 922 ranging, if they were single, it would be less than 30,000. If they were not single, they were 923 collectively earning less than $50,000. 924 925 COUNCILMAN GAY: And that's going to be 80 percent? 926 927 MS. ONG: So at Diamond College Park, which is the one that's coming up, I think the average is 928 at 60 percent. 929 930 COUNCILMAN GAY: 60? 931 932 MS. ONG: Uh-huh. 933 934 COUNCILMAN GAY: And 40 percent would be average rental? 935 936 MS. ONG: I think over there, the whole average is at 60. So they'll be some higher and some 937 lower. 938 939 COUNCILMAN CARN: I have a couple of questions – 940 941 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I do too. 942 943 COUNCILMAN CARN: -- additionally. The AMI, the whole nine, I get all of that. When would 944 you plan on opening this thing? 945 946 MS. BUCKNER: So it's, you know, it's a whole process with DCA. Just to give you a brief 947 timeline to tell you where we're at. May 19 we apply. We find out in November if we've been 948 funded. It's a 16 month, typical, construction period from there. So I'm saying August, if I'm 949 doing the math right, of next year, we would be, hopefully, leasing up. 950 951 COUNCILMAN CARN: That would be the opening ribbon cutting or whatever? 952 953 MS. BUCKNER: Yeah. 954 955 COUNCILMAN CARN: Okay. What would these affordable rental rates be August of '24? And 956 what percentage of the units would be deemed as affordable out of the entire build? 957 958 MS. BUCKNER: A hundred percent of the units are affordable. 959 960 COUNCILMAN CARN: All right. What would the rates be? Rental rates? 961 962 MS. BUCKNER: I don't have the rates in front of me. I can get them to you. It's published by -- 963 COUNCILMAN CARN: Just ballpark. Page 21 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023  964 965 MS. ONG: I can ballpark the ones at Diamond College Park. They are at $700 a month, and 966 these are for two bedrooms. And so, it's incredibly affordable. It will give people the opportunity 967 to actually change their life, like, their lifestyle. 968 969 COUNCILMAN CARN: Okay. Here's my thing, I am all for affordable housing. And in terms of 970 developers, we want developers to come in and build. We want different price points. Obviously, 971 I'm for affordable housing. I think overall, this project, the Diamond project, y'all have gone 972 through some many twist and turns with us that we don't know what may come next between 973 now and that August '24 date, number 1. But I think that if you made -- if you kind of backed up 974 a little bit, not all the way back to the drawing board, but if you started and backed up, started to 975 get with staff, make some tweaks and adjustments to things, where this thing could work for the 976 community, as well, then maybe you can salvage it and you might have something. 977 And I think the problem isn't just setbacks. The problem isn't just parking. The problem isn't just 978 one thing or another. I think the core of it is, you know, I believe -- and this is just my belief -- 979 that we sold you this property under the false pretenses, believing that this property was deed 980 restricted and not permitted for residential use. 981 982 So I understand you're committed to affordability and you have to do this now. You have to have 983 it all, but your commitment to affordability is not going to supercede, you know, my need for 984 quality of life for the neighbors. And you haven't even spoken with the neighbors about this 985 project. 986 987 MS. ONG: Just to speak to that. We are sending out letters about the BZA meeting for the 988 variances, so we've already sent those letters out. It will come before the BZA. I think that's the 989 process that currently exists. We, obviously, have been in the neighborhood for like a long time 990 now, like, four years. And so, all the neighbors do know what's going on. And I feel like we have 991 made lots of efforts and given them lots of opportunities to come and talk to us. 992 993 We are there presently. We are there at a lot of community events. You know, we've had booths, 994 like, we set up. We set up lots of things. So I don't -- we're not trying to hide anything. And I 995 think if a neighbor had strong opinions that they would turn up to the meeting, and would be 996 very happy to go between now and the next BZA meeting to go door knocking and just talk to 997 the neighbors. I don't think we have any opposition in terms of doing as part of our commitment 998 to community engagement. 999 1000 So I think we want to make sure this is a good project, both for the community, as well as for the 1001 city. And you know, density is one of those things in the TOD plan that is actually the city's plan, 1002 you know. And so, we're hoping that this is a win-win, in a sense, that we can build, you know, 1003 both the density and the parking required to actually make this a thriving downtown. 1004 That's, you know -- it's part of our commitment, and we hope that that's, you know, something 1005 that you all are committed to, as well. So, again, we're not here to try and, you know, hide 1006 anything like this. I think this was all part of a process that it's difficult. It's in an area that's like 1007 -- TOD is always difficult, you know, in any urban setting. So if we didn't have to do any 1008 variances, and if it wasn't difficult, I think it would already be done. 1009 Page 22 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1010 COUNCILMAN CLAY: I have a -- 1011 1012 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Hold on one second. Hold on one second, Councilman Clay. 1013 Councilman Allen is next. 1014 1015 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I just have a lot of problems. I think the storm water, you know. Now 1016 you say, well, we can put it underground, you know. Everything seems to be changing, and that's 1017 the problem I got with it. I think the project was really going to be something like a parking lot at 1018 one time, and then it was going to be the North Georgia Conference was going to build there and 1019 we had a meeting to talk about the North Georgia Conference. And when we got to the meeting, 1020 council meeting, all of a sudden, we found out that was going to be on Main Street. And then you 1021 looked and said, well, let's build where we can have some small offices where people can work. 1022 And you were going to put some small offices in there at one time. 1023 1024 Now, you're talking about multi-family, and a four-story building, with side backs -- setback on 1025 the front that you gotta have, setbacks on the side, which you've gotta have, setbacks on the back, 1026 which you've gotta have, four-story building, which you've gotta have, FAA approval, which 1027 you've gotta have, and you don't have any of it. 1028 1029 MS. ONG: Well, that's why we're standing here, respectfully. I think it's a process, and so, this is 1030 the first step in the process. With regards to the history, I apologize for this, but we've been as 1031 long-suffering, you know, in this process, as well. It's taken a lot of effort to get here, because 1032 nothing is easy. We have to think about the highest and best use -- 1033 1034 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Nothing's easy because you keep changing it. 1035 1036 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Allen, Councilman Allen, please let her finish. 1037 1038 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I'm sorry. 1039 1040 MS. ONG: We want the best for the city. That's the bottom line. If we could put a parking lot 1041 there and just call it a day, great. Is that the best use for the land? Like, that's the question. 1042 Maybe it is. You tell us. We didn't think that that was the best and highest use of the land that 1043 faced Main Street, you know. 1044 1045 At the end of the day, we're trying to create something of value, that creates value, for this city; 1046 right; economic development, taxes. You get housing taxes. There is so much more value in a 1047 housing development compared to a parking lot. I think you have enough parking, to be honest, 1048 next to the airport. Maybe there's never enough. But we are hoping, as partners, we will help to 1049 create what is needed in order to create -- to reach those goals. 1050 1051 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Gentlemen, we've talked about this for a good long while now. 1052 I'm going to call the question. Is there a motion? 1053 1054 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I motion to turn down. 1055 1056 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Is there a second? Page 23 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1057 1058 COUNCILMAN CARN: Second. 1059 1060 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All those in favor of the motion? 1061 1062 RESPONSE: AYE. 1063 1064 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: All those opposed? Any abstentions? Councilman Gay, what is 1065 your vote? 1066 1067 COUNCILMAN GAY: Oh, I had voted with no. I'm voting with you. 1068 1069 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: So it's unanimous to deny the conditional height permit. 1070 1071 MS. BUCKNER: Thank you guys. 1072 1073 COUNCILMAN CARN: City Attorney, just a question: That doesn't mean at some point they 1074 can't bring back another proposal with some reconfigurations and the board take a look at it, or 1075 whatever, in the future; right? 1076 1077 MR. DENMARK: There may be a time. It's not the case if they can never ever bring it back. 1078 1079 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Mayor? 1080 1081 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Yes, sir. 1082 1083 COUNCILMAN CLAY: If you had let me ask my question, my question was going to be, could 1084 -- what the mix of apartments in the facility? And if they could be changed to all single 1085 apartments, you might actually be able to fit it in and solve a lot of the problems. 1086 1087 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, sir. 1088 1089 ACTION: Councilman Allen motioned to deny a request from Good Places, LLC for a 1090 conditional height permit for Ion Princeton Village development, Councilman Carn 1091 seconded and motion carried. 1092 D. Consideration of and action on a request to secure grant funds awarded to the City of 1093 College Park by the efforts of Congresswoman Nikema Williams in the amount of 1094 $800,000 for Stormwater Upgrades. Please see memorandum dated April 4, 2023 by 1095 Highways and Street Superintendent Raymond Cotton. 1096 1097 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Item 7(d) consideration of and action on a request to secure grant 1098 funds awarded to the city by the efforts of Congresswoman Nikema Williams in the amount of 1099 $800,000 for storm water upgrades. 1100 1101 COUNCILMAN CARN: Motion. 1102 Page 24 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1103 COUNCILMAN GAY: Second. 1104 1105 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Motion by Councilman Carn, second by Councilman Gay. All 1106 those in favor? 1107 1108 RESPONSE: AYE. 1109 1110 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, gentlemen. That is unanimous. 1111 1112 COUNCILMAN CARN: Thank you, Congresswoman. 1113 1114 ACTION: Councilman Carn motioned to approve a request to accept grant funds awarded to 1115 the City of College Park by the efforts of Congresswoman Nikema Williams in the 1116 amount of $800,000 for Stormwater Upgrades, Councilman Gay seconded and 1117 motion carried. 1118 1119 8. Consent Agenda 1120 1121 A. Consideration of an action on a request to approve the consent agenda as outlined. 1122 1123 1. Consideration of and action on a bid approval for the GICC/Arena Campus Entrance 1124 "Sails" Structure Refurbishing Project. 1125 1126 2. Consideration of and action on a request for approval of Axon Enterprise, Inc. annual 1127 contract in the amount of $371,411.12 for the Police Department. 1128 1129 3. Consideration of and action on a request for approval to pay Central Square 1130 Technologies for the annual maintenance and technical services to maintain the 1131 updates and service for the One Solution RMS, CAD systems in the College Park 1132 Police Department. 1133 1134 4. Consideration of an action on a request to upgrade/replace the current Cisco and 1135 Enterprise phone services for departments throughout the City using Windstream. 1136 1137 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: The next item is the consent agenda. Is there a motion to 1138 approve? 1139 1140 COUNCILMAN CLAY: I move to approve. 1141 1142 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Clay. 1143 1144 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: I'll second. 1145 1146 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, Councilman Allen. All those in favor? 1147 1148 RESPONSE: AYE. Page 25 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1149 1150 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Any opposed? Any abstentions? That is unanimous. 1151 1152 ACTION: Councilman Clay motioned to approve a request to approve the consent agenda as 1153 outlined, Councilman Allen seconded and motion carried. 1154 1155 9. Bids, Change Order Requests and Contracts. 1156 1157 10. Unfinished (Old) Business. 1158 1159 11. New Business. 1160 1161 12. City Attorney’s Report. 1162 1163 13. City Manager’s Report. 1164 1165 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: City Manager's report? 1166 1167 MR. HAWTHORNE: Yes, briefly, and I've asked Mr. Myers to tag team with me. He'll cover 1168 some of the more technical updates for you. So this is the third week. My first day, they say that 1169 time flies when you're having fun, so I must be having fun.A lot of assessment to be done, a lot 1170 of work ahead, but I’m very excited about it. As far as the City Manager's report goes in the 1171 future, it is something that I take very seriously. In the future, I don't want to give an exact time 1172 table, but what the City Council and community can expect from me, is a fairly formal and 1173 comprehensive report in writing that I will highlight certain aspects of that report. 1174 1175 I have a model that I believe will be very accepting and interesting. But, at the same time, I want 1176 to make sure that I respect College Park and some of the things you have in place. I continue to 1177 learn. One of the things I learned late this afternoon from one of my department directors, 1178 Mr. Hicks, was that, apparently, we have software that probably hasn't been fully utilized 1179 regarding performance management. 1180 1181 I think some of the comments that were made earlier this evening by Councilman Gay and 1182 Councilman Carn, my comments now are more generalized. But I think what I heard was it's 1183 very important to this Council, and I believe to this community, as it should be, that we're not 1184 just coming in and doing, but that we're reporting out things that we've invested in; that we are 1185 showing the proof in the pudding. So I want to take a look at that software. It is tied to College 1186 Park's strategic plan, as I understand it, but I haven't even opened it yet. So those are the kinds of 1187 things that I will continue to assess and look at. But what you can expect is, we're going to be 1188 telling you, once you approve something, once something is part of the budget, or strategic plan, 1189 you're going to hear from us, whether it's success or we've run into some stalemate, whatever it 1190 is. 1191 1192 But those are the kind of things that we'll cover in those future reports that I'll be presenting. And 1193 I look forward to that. Mr. Myers. 1194 Page 26 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1195 MR. MYERS: So as we went through the COVID period, CDGB gave us -- first they gave is 1196 five, and then they turned around and gave us another hundred thousand dollars to help for the 1197 utilities, as well. I'm proud that they went ahead and gave us $76,427 more to help our citizens to 1198 pay their utility bills, and that's coming along. So I think that's a great thing. We continue on with 1199 that. We also -- I talked to Amber Coleman and is coming down here on the 24th of April at 1 1200 o'clock to do a presentation for us. So I think that's a great thing. Congressman Williams will be 1201 here; got that taken care of. 1202 1203 We also have Congressman Scott has put on his list for two projects. There was 15 projects that 1204 he got on his list. And one of them that I really think that's very important to us, because at 1205 Christmas time, is that we got the water supply, and its $2,765,000 that'll be coming from the 1206 government for the tank. 1207 1208 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: It's just on the list right now. 1209 1210 MR. MYERS: Yes, it's on the list. 1211 1212 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: It's on the list. It hasn't been approved yet. 1213 1214 MR. MYERS: But that's a very hard thing to do is get on the list. 1215 1216 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: But it's on the list, but hasn't – 1217 1218 MR. MYERS: It's on the list. So we're hoping to continue with the process. We also got Finding 1219 the Flint, just on the list too, which is another $2,316,000. I think that's going along quite well. 1220 Councilman Carn, we talked about these Tiny Homes with Fulton County. We've been going 1221 back and forth with the Tiny Homes. They called today to the City Manager's office. I gave them 1222 some information about Michael. They'll be able to reach out to him, gave him these email 1223 address. But they need to come down here and actually meet with us so we can kind of -- 1224 because it's been playing this phone tag. 1225 1226 It would be really nice to be able to meet whomever is going to work on the Tiny Homes, so we 1227 can get this together. Because we've been working back and forth for, what, six, seven months on 1228 it. And it's really been hard tell get ahold of them, or whomever it is is the representative. 1229 Don't forget about the -- I think everybody has done the GMA, for the 2023, down in Savannah 1230 to register for June 23rd to the 27th. Thank you all for listening to me. 1231 1232 14. Report Of Mayor And Council. 1233 1234 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, sir. Report of Mayor and Council. Councilman Clay? 1235 1236 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Now, Jackson, don't go away. I have one question for, that's all I have 1237 on my list. Where are we on the issue of the money that Mayor and Council ostensibly owes the 1238 city for past overpayment? 1239 1240 MR. MYER: Past overpayment? Page 27 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1241 1242 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Whatever you want to call it, our salaries, our stipend, whatever you 1243 want to call it. 1244 1245 MR. MYERS: Right now, it's still being reviewed by the attorney. And I haven't heard any 1246 additional information about it. They just found that it was put in the paper, and so, back in 2007. 1247 1248 COUNCILMAN CLAY: So the initial item that kicked it off was totally legal? 1249 1250 MR. MYERS: I'm not an attorney, but as far as I know. 1251 1252 COUNCILMAN CLAY: It met the requirements at the time, apparently. 1253 1254 MR. MYERS: From our Attorney Winston. 1255 1256 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Well, it'd be nice to know when this thing might wrap up. I'd like to 1257 know. I don't know about anybody else. 1258 1259 MR. MYERS: Well, waiting on somebody else to give me the information. 1260 1261 COUNCILMAN CLAY: Well, maybe if you get them to give you information as to when they 1262 might be done. 1263 1264 MR. MYERS: Yes, sir. 1265 1266 COUNCILMAN CLAY: That's all I had. Thanks. 1267 1268 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Carn? 1269 1270 COUNCILMAN CARN: Just a couple of things. Fingers crossed on the water tank, fingers 1271 crossed. Congressman Scott, you have never let me down. And I'm hoping it's the same with this 1272 project, because we certainly do need it. City Manager, I guess, you know, set up whatever 1273 meeting with the county for the Tiny Homes thing and let's get that thing back on the rails. 1274 I was looking up -- according to the Department of Labor, U.S. Department of Labor, last year -- 1275 so the five most dangerous job in the U.S. 1276 1277 There's only one job on there that the city handles. And the five most dangerous jobs are: 1278 Number 1, logging workers; number 2, aircraft pilots and flight engineers, and it's most private 1279 aircrafts, I guess they're the more dangerous ones; Number 3, direct operators in oil and gas and 1280 mining; Number 4, roofers; and Number 5, garbage collectors. That's the fifth most dangerous 1281 job in the United States of America. I've talked many times about our sanitation department. I 1282 talk about the hard work they do. I talk about them putting in the sweat equity for the dollars that 1283 they are paid. And I also talk about the need to increase those salaries of some our lowest paid 1284 workers, again, that do some of the hardest front facing work in this community. If your 1285 community is not clean, and things aren't looking right, you don't have much of a community. 1286 City Manager, I still continue to push -- I want to see a significant, a decent raise for our lowest 1287 paid employees, in particularly, the sanitation workers. And those are not the only ones. But that Page 28 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1288 $15 an hour floor, again, I think is something we can do a lot better with. And I'll leave that 1289 alone. 1290 1291 Last thing, tomorrow is Election Day for some of our residents in College Park. If you live in 1292 Clayton County, there is a run-off election in Clayton County, College Park, for your Clayton 1293 County Sheriff; very important position. 1294 1295 So we want to make sure we get out and vote. Because when Clayton County looks at the voter 1296 rolls, I want them to see good turn outs in College Park. So remind your neighbors, polls are 1297 open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. That's all I got. Well, overall, it's starting to get warm out here and, 1298 generally, when it gets warm, some of our issues increase, particularly, in Public Safety. Chief 1299 Rogers, I'm sure you're well aware summer is coming. It's around the corner, and I don't have 1300 any doubt that you're making preparations, but let's just be cognizant of stepping it up and 1301 doubling our efforts. 1302 1303 And you got these nice new shiny cars, I want to see one on every other corner. So let's make 1304 sure we're covered. All right. That's all I got. 1305 1306 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Allen? 1307 1308 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Just a couple of things here. Again, April is clean up month, pick up 1309 month, where you can put any item on the street. And I thought I saw an email today where it 1310 said on Wednesday, the 19th, hazard waste could be dropped off, again, at the Public Works 1311 facility. Cookie and her folks are doing Spin the District on April 30th. There is a novice ride for 1312 citizens, and a family ride's gonna start at the Women's Club at 8 or 8:30, something like that, 1313 gonna ride down to the Public Safety building early in the morning for family rides; kids, adults, 1314 everybody come out. I think I heard at one time the police were going to lead. Chief, are the 1315 police going to be leading that right down, or do you know? 1316 1317 CHIEF ROGERS: I'm not for sure. 1318 1319 COUNCILMAN ALLEN: Marcus Grissom is having a fun day at Zupp Park on the 22nd. I don't 1320 know if you remember Marcus Grissom that played for the Atlanta Braves. That's going to be a 1321 fun day, and they're going to have it at 10:30 to 12:30. A lot of baseball will be going on, a lot of 1322 young kids. 1323 1324 He does instill in his kids to go out and study. That's a big part of his program is to have these 1325 kids study, and puts a lot of emphasis on the right programs. So we thank him a lot for bringing 1326 that to College Park, and he always has a great program. The last thing is, I want to thank the 1327 Chief, the Police Chief, the sweep they did the other day. The officers, especially, Officer P that 1328 coordinated that and all the other College Park officers that were involved. They did a fantastic 1329 job and I just want to thank them for what all they did. I know a lot of planning went into it and 1330 thank them very much for us. And that's all I got. 1331 1332 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Councilman Gay? 1333 1334 COUNCILMAN GAY: Yes, ma'am. I just want to echo on what Council member Allen just Page 29 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1335 said about the raid. I would like for us to check with our Fulton County schools liaison to make 1336 sure that any children that was displaced during that raid, with just four weeks left in this school 1337 year, will complete their term -- I don't know what that looks like. But we raided them, so we 1338 need to make sure those kids complete their term in that hotel. And you can get with Fulton 1339 County Schools. They've got great partners that can support us. The second thing I want to say is 1340 that the contractor on Roosevelt, now Main, shot out to them. Whoever these contractors are, 1341 they do a great job mowing the right of ways. They clean the litter. They have good attitudes. 1342 You don't see them walking around talking. They're always working. And they just do a 1343 marvelous job. 1344 1345 So whoever is the contractor for GDOT on that stretch of the interstate, we're watching you, and 1346 you're doing a great job. We got a call that there is a metal plate on Janice at Yates. It's been 1347 there for about 12 months. The residents want the plate moved. When Lonnie -- I done called his 1348 name twice tonight -- when Lonnie was living, he used to call me over to his house and bring me 1349 in this room and say, I want you to listen to this plate. Every time a car hit it, it just makes me go 1350 crazy. Now he's dead, and I'm still here fighting for his plate. So let's move the plate on Janice, 1351 please. 1352 1353 We have a house on Janice, as well, that they put on Facebook for illegal dumping on South 1354 Fulton problems and solutions. Houses in Ward 4 was on their Facebook. Ms. Alexander, this 1355 house is owned by a resident in College Park business. I don't want to call his name out. But, 1356 please, there's a lot of illegal dumping. He had a construction fence. The fence is gone now. And 1357 the residents on Janice, Mr. Pledger, and that whole group of people that just constantly calling 1358 me about that house. 1359 1360 And I only had one more. This has nothing to do with College Park, but I am just deeply sadden 1361 and embarrassed on the conduct that's going on in the city of South Fulton. I mean, we don't get 1362 along up here, but at all times, we respect each other's seat. We respect the process. And whether 1363 you don't like somebody, or don't like them, you know, people are watching the Tri-city. 1364 They're not looking at just College Park, they're looking at how we conduct business. And how 1365 y'all are carrying on, that just needs to stop. That's all I have. 1366 1367 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, sir. So it has been a busy couple of weeks. I want to 1368 thank Mayor Wimbush from Blakely for hosting a district meeting for GMA, GMA last week. I 1369 want to thank Mayor Taylor in Dahlonega for hosting a meeting today. I'm looking forward to 1370 the district meeting in Atlanta tomorrow and headed to Senoia on Wednesday, as well, so we can 1371 talk about all the great things that are going on in our State with the Georgia Municipal 1372 Association. Also had the opportunity to spend some time in Athens in the spring training event. 1373 Learned a lot about branding and marketing and dove into some municipal finance, as well. 1374 1375 And I think that will serve us all well as we head into our audit, which has actually updated, or 1376 uploaded, on our website as of last week. So learned some good stuff from those experiences. 1377 Also had the opportunity to -- I had the kick off meeting today for the Local Leadership Housing 1378 Committee. There are about, I think, there are about 15 Mayors that the Atlanta Regional 1379 Commission has asked to join this year long process as we try to find additional solutions 1380 towards the housing issues that are in each of our communities. Page 30 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1381 1382 So I'm look forward to working with all of the Mayors who are there, and just learning from the 1383 ARC staff. And I think this will serve as a great complement to my employment on the housing 1384 supply accelerator through the National League of Cities. So hoping to bring back lots of great 1385 information to the city. And let's see, the Aerotropolis is having their Clayton County Brokers 1386 reception later on this week. So that is coming up on the 19th. So looking forward to that event, 1387 as well. 1388 1389 And I think that is just about it. Is there a motion to approve the executive session minutes? Yes, 1390 Cedric was amazing. We had an opportunity to sit down with him before the conclusion of the 1391 NLC meeting. It was great. But is there a motion to approve the executive session minutes? 1392 1393 COUNCILMAN CARN: Mayor, I wanted to send my condolences to Demetrius Taylor's family. 1394 Apparently, they had a death in the family over the last couple of days. I spoke to him yesterday 1395 and send our condolences on behalf of the city. But I wanted to publicly send that condolence out 1396 to him and his family. 1397 1398 MAYOR MOTLEY BROOM: Thank you, sir. And forgot about the GMA Board of Director's 1399 meeting next in Tifton. So that will actually be an opportunity to connect, as well. All over the 1400 State these last couple of weeks. It has been great, because we've got 537 cities in this State. And 1401 each one of them is different with their own needs, and just great, great people, who are leading 1402 them. So it is nothing but a privilege to engage with them. 1403 1404 14. Executive Session. 1405 1406 15. Approval of Executive Session Minutes. 1407 1408 ACTION: Councilman Carn moved to approve Executive Session Minutes dated April 17, 1409 2023, seconded by Councilman Gay and motion carried by those present. 1410 1411 16. Adjournment. 1412 1413 Mayor Motley Broom adjourned the meeting at 9:11 p.m. 1414 1415 1416 CITY OF COLLEGE PARK 1417 1418 1419 1420 ________________________ 1421 Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor 1422 1423 ATTEST: 1424 1425 1426 Page 31 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023 1427 ________________________ 1428 Shavala Ames, City Clerk 1429 1430 1431 1432 Page 32 of 32 Regular Session 04/17/2023