City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Try again. Good evening.

Thank you. Hi. Um, good evening. It is uh 6:02 and I call this regularly scheduled Dumby City Council meeting to order unless there's an objection. Seeing none, uh, Councilman Secer, can you lead us in the pledge and the and the invocation in the pledge? For those who are able, please rise. Invocation. At this meeting, help us to make decisions which keep us faithful to our mission and reflect our values. Give us strength to hold to our purpose, wisdom to guide us, and a keen perception to lead us. And above all, keep us charitable as we deliberate. Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag Okay. Sorry. All right. It's public comments. I have uh cards. If you have a public comment and you didn't fill out a card, you fill one out at the back and uh bring it up here or hand it to Eric Sheiley right here. Um and we'll get them when we conclude whoever has already filled out a card. Ali, I saw you. I know you're here. You'll have three minutes, sir. Approach the microphone.

Thank you, city council. Um I just wanted to make three very general comments as someone who walks around the city a lot. just something to bring to your attention. The first one is again I I walk a lot around the perimeter mall area and I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that we have a large influx of homeless people just kind of living on the benches. I imagine that is probably correlated to the World Cup coming in in June, July and more than likely the city of Atlanta is doing what they need to do to clean up their city which of course forces their residents um to come into our you know to our city. So, I've noticed just a large influx of of random people who are now unfortunately um you know on our benches, on our sidewalks in our city. So, I just simply wanted to bring that to your attention to see if there's any way we can have any corrective actions here or anything we can do to possibly assist them or help them uh relocate to other shelters or other places that are not just on the pedestrian street. Um, number two, as someone who walks around the city a lot, uh, I have noticed as well is that we, as always, we have issues with traffic. We have we do a good job of keeping like pedestrian crosswalks. We do a good job of having sidewalks. We have a good job of having signs that tell vehicles when it's time for pedestrians to walk. Um, unfortunately, it doesn't help a lot with some of the cars. Um, you know, there's two ways of fixing that. Enforcement, which would come under the chief, or education. So, I would hope that maybe in the Dun Dunwy Digest, as that's one of our biggest um forms of communication with the city, maybe just a small section here or there, just a polite reminder of kind of what to do when you see a pedestrian in the sidewalk. Um accelerating is not the right answer. Uh but ultimately, just just a quite quick reminder and some of those traffic things would be helpful. Granted, I think a lot of the problems are more than likely people from other cities of course or non-residents of Dunwy who are just doing whatever they want to do. Um, and then the last thing is I saw that we're getting a new restaurant in Perimeter Mall, which looks fantastic. I I've seen the I did a

little bit of my homework on it and I think that will be an amazing addition to Perimeter Mall. It should be fantastic yet again another accomplishment. Um, most other cities, especially with Roswell really getting very very popular in its um I think it's like alive at 5 or something and other cities doing Alfreda doing their restaurant weeks. It seems like all the other northern cities have some type of restaurant week or some type of restaurant festival of some sort. So I would advise and ask if we can potentially look at doing something like that or creating something like that just like a restaurant week something that gets correlated with the city something that can kind of promote more people including residents to come out and try some of these restaurants. But those are just my three observations I want to bring to your attention. As always we appreciate the work you do. Thank you for being here tonight. Thank you for what you guys do. Thank you, Danny Ross. You'll have three minutes, sir. Approach the microphone. Introduce yourself and uh you'll have three minutes. My

name is Danny Ross. I live at 5165 North Peace Road. When we started the city in 2008, we had no money. We had no laws. We had no police. We had no place to even meet. But we had something was more important. We had the trust of the public. When Dudwin became a city, one of the defining promises that we made to the residents was fiscal discipline. The promise was not simply stated. It was written into the charter. And it was I quote to you from the charter. The city shall level no more than 3.04 mills for the general operations. close quote. The language was meant to provide certainty. It told the citizens of Dunworthy that the government would would operate with in clear financial limits and that any meaningful change to those limits would come back to them for approval. Tonight, that promise is being tested. This proposed tax district may be structured in a way that appears separate from a millillage cap. It may be described as a target or necessary, but from the perspective of the taxpayers, the effect is straightforward. It increases the overall tax burden and what was originally promised. The question tonight is not whether you can do this. The question is whether you should do this. And that's the issue before us. When citizens voted for this city, they were not voting for workarounds. They were voting for the government that would live within the defined limits or come back to them openly if those limits needed to change. This is about trust. Even if this proposal is technically

permissible, it moves away from the spirit of the charter. And once we begin to move outside this ch the spirit, we begin to erode the confidence that the citizens place in their government. The question tonight is not whether the underlying need is valid. The question is whether this is the right way to address it. If we need if the need is real and compelling, then there's is clear and principal path forward. Make the case to the citizens approach. This approach preserves both fiscal responsibility and public trust. Done what was built on the idea that local government should be responsive but also restrained. That balance is what has made this city strong. I would respectfully urge you tonight to uphold that principle. Join John Henigan. I would respectfully urge you tonight to uphold that principle. Not just in the letter of the character, but in the intent of the character. Thank you.

Zack Humphre, approach the microphone, sir. You'll have three minutes.

Hello, Zack Humphre 1509 Troder's Cove. In 1970 when Dumby first tried to incorporate the section in which tried to incorporate was around the hidden branches area and it would have charged $10 per household. Unfortunately, well that didn't work because they couldn't afford a police department. What we see is that times change, communities change, the needs of the community changes, and we need to have the tools available for us to address the needs when things change. with Dumby having both the hard homestead evaluation freeze another 0.1 millillage reduction uh for homesteads. It makes it so that it's very difficult for Dumb Woody's uh tax revenue to increase with the proper rate of inflation and also what the community needs. You know, I know that in 2008 there was a certain expectation, but you know, it was also in 2008 when, you know, the state government paid for uh teachers um health insurance and didn't pass that responsibility down onto counties. You know, 2008 was a very different time than what is today. And for Dunwy to continue to be a a multigenerational community, one that takes a step into the next generation, we need to have all the tools available for us to succeed as a community and as a people. Of course, it is it is pertinent that if this special

purpose tax district was used, it is pertinent on council to have a strong justification for its use to have to talk to the community and make sure that if it is ever applied, then there is a real justification for doing so. And so that is pertinent for the council to do, but ultimately we need to have the resources available for us to continue to succeed as a community and to continue to attract people here as well as continue to make this a multigenerational community. Um, thank you.

Thank you, Melissa Chandelle. Chandelle, I might have pronounced your name wrong. I apologize. if you'll uh just introduce yourself. You'll have three minutes.

Thank you. I'm Melissa Shidell. I am a municipal court judge here for the city of Dunwy. I'm a resident of Dunwy and have been for quite a long time now. I wanted to speak briefly on the topic of the two the proposal for two term limits for the judges. I've not been privy to the conversations uh concerning this proposal, so I don't know the reasoning behind it. And without knowing that, what I'm here to say is that our community benefits from experienced judges, not just experienced at being a judge, but experience with the workings of this courtroom. Everyone who comes to court relies on uh the inner working of the players who are seated in these chairs. Um having a high rate of turnover would not serve the community or the smooth operating of the court. In addition to that, we are and there are some other judges who are present with me today. We're part of the um council of municipal court and there is a hierarchy within that organization. We're in the fourth district and we have representation on the district level and on the state level and judges only rise in those rankings when they are experienced and longerving. Having experienced and longer serving judges elevates and amplifies our community's voice on the district and the state level when legislation comes up. For example, requiring that judges cannot signature bonds for people who are in jail over the weekend without someone going to the jail to have a hearing. Uh that was a big deal the past couple years. Um when legislation like that is proposed, we rely on our officers in the uh council of municipal court judges to be our voice for us um on the state level. And I have a minute left. Um anybody wants it. Um thank you for your time.

Thank you very much and thank you for your service. Um that concludes the cards that I have um for public comment. There'll be another public comment session at the end of the meeting. Um, before I go on, we do have several of our municipal court judges. If you could just please stand and rise. I don't want to call by names because I might miss somebody, but thank you for your service. All right. Uh, okay. So, we have a we're not reading the proclamation, but Cam Stinson and his Okay. Um, Cam, I think you're here with your peers to make a presentation for stroke awareness day. Come on up. Introduce yourself. Have your uh classmates introduce themselves and um we're ready to learn.

Good evening, city council members. My name is Cam. My name is Samiha. My name is Angelina.

We are act fast to battle stroke from DOI Hosa. Today we're here to propose a proclamation that declares May first stroke awareness day. Our goal is to spread knowledge about recognizing the signs of stroke, ways to reduce strokes and provide support to stroke survivors. Our message act fast to battle stroke is important because strokes are a medical emergency and many are not aware but many are affected. Our campaign emphasized the fast model, which stands for face dripping, arm weakness, speech difficulty, and time to call 911. This helps people quickly recognize stroke symptoms, allowing immediate action that can save many lives by getting patients to seek medical help as soon as possible. Our team has promoted the fast model through our previous projects that include one leading educational workshops throughout Dunwy such as at Burman Commons, Peach Tree Middle School, Dunwy High School, and our local boy scout troop 477. Two, organizing fundraisers at Good Vibes and Melo Mushroom that will be donated to a local stroke survivor group. Three, donating homemade cards, bracelets, and brochures to the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Four, having an online presence on social media such as Instagram and Spotify where we spread information and amplify the voices of stroke survivors. Five, sharing infographics locally and internationally by translating them into seven seven different languages and sharing them to countries that spoke those languages. Six, organizing a stroke awareness week at Dwey High School by handing out fast cards, giving stroke facts on the announcements, and having a red day. Through these activities, we have spread our message to the city of Dunwy and beyond that inspired many to take action against strokes. Today, we propose establishing a stroke awareness day on May 1st. This initiative would help educate our community, increase awareness of stroke symptoms, and promote prevention efforts

that can ultimately save lives. Thank you.

Okay, that was that's really impressive. Wait, wait, wait. Don't leave. Don't leave. Pam. Pam. Pam. You have to come back. We're not finished. Okay, brother. I'm not I remember that last year with strokes.

I would like to make a comment. A year and a half ago, I had a series of strokes and because I was educated as to what it was, we could immediately call 911 and I could immediately get treated. So, thank you for your efforts in this area. I appreciate it. You're welcome. Um, could you you said what organization you were from, but it was letters. Can you tell us what the letters stand for? Um yes the our act fast about battle stroke our model the fast is an acronym the face stands for face drooping so if one side of your face is drooping that is a sign of a stroke

um arms if you ask someone to raise both their arms but one of them is um significantly lower it means that they have one they have weakness on one side of their body which can be a sign of a stroke. Um S is for speech and it's either slurred speech, incoherent speech or they don't understand what you're saying and um the person you're talking to doesn't understand what you're saying. And then T, a stroke is very time critical. So T is the time to call 911.

Fantastic presentation and that is your proclamation declaring May 1st uh stroke awareness day in Dunwy. So thank you'all for bringing this initiative to us. Great work. We appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you'all very much. All right, Ann Hicks, you are next that appears on the screen. Oh, no. It is it on your screen there?

Yes. Okay. Okay. Here it comes. It's a little slow.

Oh, good. Good. Well, good evening. I'm Anne Hicks. I'm the current chair of the city's sustainability committee, and it's only appropriate that during this Earth Month, we take a moment to recognize some of the heroes in our community who take real action to protect the environment every day. The city's sustainability hero award program honors exemplary individuals and organizations for their dedication, service, and leadership in sustainable practices. I'm honored to announce that the 2025 individual hero award goes to Maida Wland. Maida was selected for modeling sustainable behavior in his everyday life and for his leadership in advancing sustainability in Demi. As a sustainability professional at Seammens, Maida helps guide long-term sustainability planning. He's also a long-term board member at the Demody Nature Center where he currently serves as a facilities chair. Maida demonstrates his sustainable principles by helping ensure that buildings, grounds, and the infrastructure at the nature center reflect strong environmental values. So, I'd like to invite Maida to come up for a few comments. Congratulations.

Thank you. Um, very honored today to be recognized by the city and its sustainability com uh committee for this award and a big thank you to the nature center staff for their nomination. Um, it's a great pleasure to be able to do this what I do professionally for both the nature center and Austin Elementary. And uh, lastly, I would just like to thank my family and friends who are here running around today. Um, fun fact, uh, when my, uh, when I originally started on on the D nature center, it was my wife who was at the time at the state mill committee who was asked to be on uh, nature center and she didn't, but she nominated a lesser substitute. It was me. Um, and I was able to step up and really found something I love. So, thank you to her and this award is really hers as much as mine. So, thank you.

Thank you. Are we Ann are we doing a pres? Are you doing are we taking pictures or after That's fine. Go ahead.

So, moving on to the organization award. I'm pleased to announce that Dumbwony United Methodist Church was selected as the recipient for the 2025 sustainability hero award for making creation care a priority throughout through its environmental stewardship committee. The church has demonstrated a strong commitment to energy efficiency by installing a large solar array in 2025 as well as energy efficient LED lights and thermostats in many rooms. In addition, DOI Methodists began composting food waste and expanding recycling throughout the church last year. So, I'd like to invite our senior pastor, Phil Shrader, up here to say a few words and congratulate him.

Thank you so much. The congratulations do not go to me. They go to Kathy Brockman, who's one of our associate pastors who happens to be in Ireland, and our amazing environmental uh stewardship committee. They teach children on a weekly basis how to compost. Ted Bowen is there week in and week out helping the children to sort everything at our Wednesday night suppers. And I'm thankful for other church members like Megan who push people into the right spot. Right. Uh it it and these are the people behind me who have pushed us and they've had patient perseverance. They have been asking us to do this and few other churches of our size have ever done this in the state of Georgia. And we wanted to be able to lead the way after we had sufficient information to do so. So we hope other houses of worship now will see what we've done. And I love that that we're getting this award because you can't see the solar panels and now people will be able to see that we have solar panels because of this award and I hope that other houses of worship in our community will follow suit. So thank you and we thank the team and for all those people who've made this possible at our church. Bless you. your picture in the middle and come down. People are really, you know,

the people behind the scenes, right? second. Congratulations.

Thanks, man. Congratulations. But you work here, too. One, two, three. Congratulations to both award winners. You certainly make our community a better place. Um, and we are so proud of you both for the work you as an organization and as an individual have done. We're very grateful too. Thank you. Thank you, Ann. And we're ready for your report. Okay. So, I'd like just to deliver a brief sustainability committee update. Um, some successes in the last year since we last provided you with an update. Um, those include uh we helped organize two greenspeak informative programs at the Domin Nature Center. Um, in August we had one on rooftop solar and in March um on the importance of native plants. Um, last fall we led a pollinator education booth at the nature cent's butterfly experience. Um, we also manned a table at I think three or four farmers market Saturdays last summer and where we disseminated information to the public about um, changes into cabs recycling policies.

Um, we had tips about composting and purchasing EVs and lots of other, you know, helpful information. U we also wrote a number of articles for the D news. Oops. Okay. Thank you. Can't multitask here. Um we supported city staff on its RFP for the two city solar projects and also participated on the bid review team for those projects. Um we helped um host two electronic waste recycling events which seem to be very popular in the community. Um we helped um let's see very recently we participated with city staff and city um council um along with other municipal leaders in Dicab on the um I thought very informative program on regenerative lawn care um led by the rootstown organization. So, okay. So, upcoming plans real quick. Uh we're having another green speak informative program on May 20th on home energy efficiency. Um we're having a special meeting with council on June 3rd. We're really looking forward to that. Um we're um doing a number of things to encourage um composting. We're doing some research into composting programs and other municipalities for both residential and um potentially restaurant composting just to encourage that behavior. Um we're continuing education on rooftop solar and EVs uh through you know articles and and educating the public at the farmers market and so forth. Um we're um looking at relevant city ordinances for possible updates related to sustainability and uh continuing with the summer tableabling at farmers market and and

the DNES and um at least one more um e-waste recycling event. So really looking forward to those and other activities. I encourage any members of the public to please um join us. Our committee meets u monthly second Thursdays at city hall right upstairs at 8 am and uh we do have a committee web page which you can easily find online. So thank you for your time council. Thank you. Um does anyone have any questions or comments? Uh Rob,

I just want to make a quick thank you. Um I I don't know if the citizens of the city appreciate the level of expertise that the members of the sustainability committee have. It's a really really talented group of people with really deep knowledge on these topics and they donate their time for free and their efforts for free. And um on our consent agenda um later tonight we have uh the first solar panels that are going on two city buildings and sustainability committee was integral in helping to kind of put together the um the RFP for that and review and and select a good bid and that's a project that will be of no cost to the city but will reduce our power bills. So it's 100% win for the city and um donated time from the sustainability committee was a big part of that. So thank you. Yeah, I think it's really great for the city to be a role model in that area as well as you know what Dunwitty Methodist has done. Um I wanted to mention real quick that Shambling Methodist just celebrated a ribbon cutting for their own solar system yesterday. So it was another large system and um and we some of us talked to them and helped you know get them across the finish line. Um but yeah, I was going to mention your point about the members of the committee. Uh we do have a new sustainability professional on our committee as well as a landscape architect that joined a few months ago. So and then two high school students who are totally awesome. You guys approved last time. So yeah, we we're just thrilled with the extra help and the expertise like Rob said. So thank you

Stacy. Um, I would actually like to add to one of your successes in your activities from this last year's helping me in the city of Tucker with you and Beth Stton came down and talked to Senior Lunch and Learn about all things recycling and sustainable. And um, Beth has helped me uh, recycle about 8,000 uh, ball pit balls uh, through Charm. So, um, not only do you help us here in the city, but you're also welcome and willing to to travel, and I appreciate that. Absolutely. show. Um,

we've got at least three of us were on the sustainability committee here that's that's in the council. So, you know, we appreciate and and what folks don't realize in the community is that, you know, we have other boards and commissions as well, the planning commission, zoning board of appeals, all these other a lot of them, they are they react, they receive an agenda, they get to digest it, and then they can deliberate and make recommendations. You guys actually do work. You guys put in hours and time and are out in the community rolling up your sleeves and it really is a huge benefit, right? We could be paying thousands and thousands or tens of thousands of dollars a year for those services, for the expertise. So, thank you for being out there and doing what you do. Again, thank you.

Absolutely. Anybody else?

Just thank everyone said it. Y'all are a working committee. Um, and we appreciate all the time and that you bring your talents to share with us. Thank you. Appreciate it. Hey, next is Miss Davis here. Jessica, come on. All right, come on up. And so, for those of you who may not know, a couple of months ago, I started an initiative to introduce one dog from Lifeline uh Dicab to the community in hopes of finding it a permanent home. Um, and I believe we've had some success, right? And you can tell us about that. Yeah.

And so, if you'll introduce the dog, and I'll come down. Um,

awesome. Um, yeah, my name is Jessica. I know I say this every time, but I live in Dunwy. Um, my husband is a, um, police officer here. We love Dunwy. Um, I started volunteering with Lifeline, um, about two and a half years ago and then started working for Lifeline this past December. Um, so today we have with us Strawberry Picnic. Um, cutest name for the cutest dog. She is, um, around between three and four years old. Um, and at the shelter, we actually have a leveling system for how easy the dog is to handle, right? How much training you need as a volunteer. Um, when Strawberry Picnic came in, she was the highest level, which means the most difficult. um because she was so scared, she refused to move and so she had to be carried around the shelter um for about three weeks and our behavior team worked with her and got her to where she's comfortable um at the shelter now. So she's always been a sweetheart, but now we don't have to carry her 67 pounds all around the shelter. Um she is very dog friendly. She's a staff favorite. Um and she is heartworm positive. So um I wanted to talk about that for a little bit. Um, heartworm positive dogs um are a little misunderstood. Um, a lot of our dogs at the shelter are heartworm positive. So, I have five favorites right now. All of them are heartworm positive. Um, but dogs cannot begin treatment for heartworms until they're in a home because they have to be kept calm and that's just impossible in the shelter environment. So, heartworms are not contagious to your other pets. They're not contagious to people. Um, it's about a three-month process and it's honestly pretty easy. my husband and I adopted a heartworm positive dog. Um so if you have like this summer and you're looking to foster, um being a heartworm foster is really helpful because it gets these dogs hearts healthy and then even if you have to return them at the end of the summer, it's so much easier on their bodies to be in the shelter heartworm negative. So again, it's not contagious to anybody. They just have to be in a home before we

can start treatment. Um we do have some fun upcoming events. So, this Saturday at Tap Room Coffee in Atlanta, we're doing a Leashes and Lattes adoption event from 9 to 11. Um, and then tomorrow is Take Them Home Tuesday, which is a free adoption event. So, um, for the foreseeable future, every Tuesday all of the adoption fees are waved. And the goal for this is, um, Tuesday night is when we do our, uh, humane capacity count. So, we have to get our numbers down to 475 dogs in the building. Um, as of right now, we have uh 491 dogs in the building. Um, so we're about 20 over capacity. So, any dog that leaves, whether from short-term foster, adoption, or um, of course long-term foster, helps us get that number down and it's really helpful. Um, fostering is free, um, of course, but if you're not able to bring a dog home for foster, um, we are in need of some donations. So, we are out of newspapers right now. Um, we need some newspapers. We also need large and extra-large crates. And then we need benabones, which is a certain type of bone that's really hard to to um ruin and digest. So, that's one of the only toys that the dog can have in the crate. Um so, again, this is Strawberry Picnic. Um we've brought two dogs, I believe, Reanesca and then Griddles. Um Griddles was adopted and then Reanesca was pulled by a rescue, so neither of them are in our care anymore. So, we would love for that to happen for Strawberry Picnic again. She's such a sweetheart. So, thank you guys so much for having us. We really appreciate being here and fingers crossed for Strawberry Picnic. So, this is just one of our

animal related initiatives. At the urging of Councilwoman Harris, we have now placed chip readers at the front of city hall outside and at the dog park in Brook Run, which allows um you if you find a lost dog to bring it to either place 20 Well, the pier is 24 hours a day. The park is open dawn to dusk and so you can take it and scan it to see if you can find the owner. It has instructions um in the box to tell you what to do and how to do it or you can go online to our Facebook page and watch the great video of Stacy with her dog demonstrating it. And then we just got an email over the weekend from someone who would like to do like the little book library, but instead it has supplies for dog owner pet owners who might be struggling financially. And we look forward to partnering with that organization as they bring their resources to Dunwy as well. Um, so adopt this dog, please. Adorable. So cute. And, um, with that, uh, Jennifer, I think we're ready for you. Camera right here. We'll catch this just like over here. Perfect. Perfect. Perfect. Awesome. And then you can just face council.

Good evening, mayor and council. Thank you so much for um letting us be here tonight to profile and highlight the members of the youth city council at Dunwy High School. Uh thank you for having dinner with them tonight and talking about lots of issues facing young people and facing our city. It's a great opportunity for them to um meet you all and discuss uh things topics that are uh important to them. This program started 10 years ago. So we are celebrating a decade. It started in 2016. That's lots of donuts, but also lots of great questions and really good discussion. So, uh, we meet monthly at the high school and have a different speaker each month and, uh, it's been a great experience. And the man who has been there from the beginning is the sponsor, Mike Barry, with Dunwy High School. And we have a little surprise for him. We have a great collage picture of his uh, of group pictures from over his 10 years. he is um not leaving the high school. Don't start that rumor. He is uh uh going to move on from this program because he has so much going on with sports and and his and his classes. So, we will have a new sponsor for the program next year, Dr. Jamie Davis, who will be wonderful. But we are so grateful to Mr. Barry, his great questions, great organization skills, and for leading this program for so long. Thank you very much. Wow. Um I did not expect this. Thank you very much uh Jennifer. Um and thank you to the city uh for um each year how much time that you guys give to the students and making yourselves available coming out and speaking with the students um inviting them for dinner. It's it's been really such I I think a positive impact on the students who have some interest in government and through meeting with you guys, not only are they informed about what you do for your jobs and about the city, but I think the biggest thing, the biggest impact this has is it

takes government away from being this abstract thing that's unattainable for the students and it really makes them understand that it's something that they can participate in, they can have an impact in their community just by getting involved and meeting with their city officials. Um, and so we've been um really uh um blessed to have six guest speakers come out this year and speak with the students. Uh Mr. Hennean, um on the um Mayor Deutsch, uh uh Chief Carlson, uh uh Chief Carlson, um uh Michael Starling on the on on the Rachel Waldrin and Jennifer as well all came out. They informed the students um and they they answered their questions. And again, I think hopefully the the long term of this is these students as they come through uh go and become active citizens in their communities when they become adults. And hopefully that's what's happening here. So, thank you guys very much. I really appreciate it.

Hi, I am Bo Ber. I am the quoteunquote mayor of of the city council. It's a title I came up with about 45 minutes ago. Uh I I started this I became a member when I was a freshman. At the time, I had no idea how big of a deal backyard chickens were. Uh, I can confidently say now that uh, you know, I do realize um, in that and along with all the other stuff that that uh, I've learned throughout the four years and that you guys have um, that have taught the the club. Um, I just want to say thank you for for everything and I'm sure that it's going to be even better, you know, in the future with all the the great leaders that we have uh, coming up next year and and and yeah, thank you.

Thank you. Yeah, we all coming down Jennifer for this one. Okay. All right. Great. Congratulations everybody. Okay.

I think we're waiting for Meline. But Sharon, do you have to read this one? I think you do. Right. Sharon has to read it. That's on me.

An ordinance to amend chapter 27 that the city have done what a code of ordinances to define and provide use regulations for vape shops. Good evening, mayor and city council. Um Paul has actually been sort of carrying this through the process so far, but he's out of town for the national uh planning conference. So I am filling in for uh the presentation this evening. So uh yes, we are introducing a text amendment to regulate vape shops in Dunwy as a standalone use. Um, back in February, you all um approved a 90-day moratorum um to prohibit any new vape shops from opening um to give time to create these regulations. One thing we would like to note is that the text amendment is scheduled for a second read on May 11th. That is also the same day that the uh moratorum expires. So, if you don't anticipate um being able to um vote on the regulations that evening, we would recommend extending the moratorum. So, that's just a quick note for um for you all. Um and then the origin of this text amendment is we were uh it was actually brought to us by one of your fellow council members um councilman Secer. And so, at his direction, staff has prepared this amendment. Um and hopefully, you know, I know Paul's gone tonight. I've studied all the the text um extensively, but um if there's anything I'm missing, I'm sure Mr. Second can can assist there. Um the way we've presented this regulation is that we are defining the standalone use of vape shops and then

incorporating it into our regulating um land use um uh table. Uh so for the definition of vape shops um we want to first decide how we measure the product sales and also define the types of products that a standalone vape shop sells. Um so for when we're looking at how much product that they sell, we're defining it by both floor area and the volume of product compared to other things that some that a place might sell. Um we actually regulate other items by volume you know already. So for things if you open a restaurant and you want to sell alcohol we say 50% of your sales have to be food and then the other 50% can be um alcohol. So this is a type of regulation we are familiar with. Um and so we've defined this as 25% or more of aggregate retail sales. If you are doing 25% or more of uh vape product sales, then you are defined as a vape shop. Uh we also are measuring it by floor area. So if you have a store and you sell a variety of products, if 25% or more of your floor area um is dedicated to the display and sale of these vape products, then you are deemed a standalone vape shop. Um these are the types of things that we would regulate through the business license process. So, if somebody wants to sell vape products, um we would have them submit their floor plan um as part of the business license and then as they renew their business license as the same as it is for alcohol, we would have them break down their retail sales. Um so, um the standalone vape shops, um we've included four product groups in this. Um so, we have alternative

nicotine products. Um, so that's nicotine, gum, pouches, dip, gummies. There's a lot of new ways to ingest nicotine these days. Um, so it's sort of an extensive list. And then you have the vapes themselves. Um, so the disposable vapes, but also the vapes that you can refill. Those are all captured um by this definition. Um and then in standalone vape shops, there's also a lot of other um smoking paraphernalia that come along with those types of shops. And so we've also included that um in this definition as well. So smoking devices um I am sort of embarrassed to be showing this Spongebob smoking paraphernalia, but those are the types of products that these places sell. Um, and this is just an example of a typical smoke shop um, in terms of their design and and lighting and the variety of products that they sell. And so this definition is is intended to capture this type of use. Um, again, it's directed towards standalone vape shops. It's not intended to stop people from vaping or from regulating personal behavior, but treating these as a standalone use. Um the reason is because as a standalone use they're a lot more accessible and they're a lot more visible. Um and um there's been a lot of discussion lately around um youth vape use and youth youth nicotine use. And so that is one of the um driving factors behind this is just trying to make it less visible as a land use um and less um you know uh vivid um in our um shopping centers. So we're regulating this through our use standards in our commercial districts. So we've defined vape shops as a standalone use and then we're adding it to the land use table.

Um, so within the land use table, you have to say within each district, is it allowed or is it prohibited? We've just marked them all as prohibited and just outright um saying that standalone vape shops are not permitted within the city of Dunwy. Again, this is not preventing from convenience stores or grocery stores from selling nicotine products. It's just saying as a standalone use. We don't see this as appropriate in Dunwy. This is just a quick graphic to define the area measurement. um just visually so you can see how it would be measured. Um so essentially you draw a rectangle around every you know area that has um vape products and then within that rectangle it can't exceed 25% of the total floor area. Um so you can see in the green these are measured um appropriately and then they don't exceed 25% but if you are breaking it up and putting it in different areas of the store that rectangle goes around the entire you know area that those fit into. And so something like the red would not be appropriate. You would have to consolidate that um into a smaller area in order to not be defined as a vape shop. Um at the planning commission meeting, the planning commission did not um pass a recommendation of approval for the text amendment. Um they voiced some concerns over including CBD and delta 8 and THC products into this ordinance. Um and then they also had concerns about whether this should actually be regulated um as sort of a separate use. So again, just to reiterate for next steps, this is proposed for a second read on May 11th. Um but if you don't anticipate um uh passing um or making a vote on this at that meeting and you want more time, we would recommend you all um extend the moratorum at that time then. And then if you guys have any questions, I'm available.

Thank you. Questions, comments? Katherine, what are our neighboring cities doing about vape shops? Um, so we've actually pulled this um a model ordinance from um adjacent cities in the northern metro area. Um I don't know exactly what I believe um like John's Creek um regulates vape shops as a standalone use and I know Paul spoke with their planning department to get some guidance on on how to write the ordinance. So, we've taken inspiration from other cities um in the area.

I think it is concerning that you're singling it out whereas you aren't doing that with CBD shops or gun shops. Does John's Creek have regulations against those as well? That I don't know. I would have to look that up. Okay. All right. Thanks. Go ahead. Um Rob, sorry.

Uh can you um I guess give us a little bit more detail on planning commission discussion on this issue since it looked like there were a couple of different concerns. One that it wasn't encompassing enough and one that it was maybe too too much overreach. It kind of I get the sense people maybe voted against it for different reasons. Just thoughts on on what they were thinking or or what they said.

Yeah. So um when you look at the CBD CBD and delta 8 and THC products um that was not included in this report um CBD um has serves a different demographic or it has a different look. Um it's different types of products. Um it just operates differently than a standalone um vape shop. And so we viewed it as different and didn't incorporate it into this definition. Um now when we talk about the land use law concern um you know staff's position is that it is appropriate to regulate these as a land use. Um we have lots of other different specific definitions in our code. Um you know we regulate pawn shops differently than regular land use um than other like retail land uses. we regulate um you know quick cash services differently than regular banks and so this is common practice already and also we have to be responsive to um new uses and new trends that come along. You know the code isn't a stagnant document and so we have to be able to um review things as they come up and you know as they become u discussion in the community. So,

right. So, then uh pivoting then to a question about um implementation. You mentioned that as part of the business license, an applicant would provide a floor plan. So, I'm assuming that there are grocery stores and gas stations that already sell vapes today. Would they have to then create a floor plan to get their next business license renewal? And would they have to do that every year or just the first year? So for existing convenience stores and and grocery stores, you know, we don't see that as necessarily a concern. Um this is more for, you know, new shops that are trying to open in Dunwy and they are including these types of things in their product list. Um you know, and if we feel that, you know, every time a business wants to open in Dunwy, they have to give a detailed description of what they want to do and the types of things they want to sell and how they're going to structure their business. And so if we flag that, okay, it looks like this could be considered a vape shop, that's when we would go down the line of asking them to provide more detail.

So just as a hypothetical, let's say a business decides they're going to have 20% of their floor space and business selling bait products. They submit a floor plan and then after they're open for a year, they decide we want to move our floor plan around. Do they need to then resubmit or is their initial submission adequate because they've already kind of set a threshold of I'm sorry I messed up. This was a public hearing. Oh, we shouldn't It's on me. It's on me, right? This is a public hearing.

Yes. And it takes a first rate. I'm sorry. I need to open the public hearing first. Um sorry. If there are public comments, uh unless there's an objection, this public hearing is opened. Um, unless there are objections, I see none. It's open if anyone would like to speak for this um ordinance to amend uh to define and provide use regulations for vape shops. Um, you may approach the microphone and we'll have 10 minutes. All right. Seeing no one, if anyone would like to speak against this ordinance to provide uh regulations for vape shops, uh approach the microphone. You'll have 10 minutes. Yes, ma'am. If you want to speak for or against, it doesn't matter at this point. Okay, that's fine. Come on up. Uh just uh say your name. So that

Right. I'm Susan Blackwell. U I noticed when I went towards uh Shamley High School, here's Shamley High School. Right across the street is a vape shop. Seeing her graph there showing students, I can't believe Shamley doesn't have a policy against a vape shop right across the street from a high school. So, I'm hoping everybody the powers to be will wisely be against anything like that around even the gas station down on North Peach Street which is close to the high school and they can walk there and get all this awful stuff. um that we do better decision making than what Shamley has done and allowing their kids just to cross the street and buy that stuff. I don't even know if they have a vape s, you know, sensor in their schools or not, but you know, it's I hate to see kids using it because it's very dangerous in the long run. So, please uh make your decision wisely.

Thank you. Is there anyone else that would like to speak on this? Uh come on up, introduce yourself uh and uh share your comments, please.

Hi, I'm Lauren Stinson. I'm the proud mom of one of the people who presented on stroke awareness and um I'm also a mental health therapist. I work with all ages um from about eight years all the way up to about 88 years. And um I have worked a lot with students who have been addicted and are addicted to vaping. Um the comments that I get from students is usually I wish I would have just stuck with cigarettes because vapes are a lot harder when you're consuming nicotine to break that addiction. They're having to go to MDs and do a lot of work to break that addiction. And so um one of the things in our country is that we protect children. I do not believe that there is any place for a vape shop in our village. Those of us I've lived here for about 15 years. I watch the kids, the middle schoolers, you know, the parents tell me it's a right of passage for my middle schooler to just run free in the village. They go to Walgreens and you know they go to the ice cream shop. If we have a vape shop there, they're gonna go to the vape shop or they're going to find an older kid who's going to buy that and that's going to increase the odds that they're going to use. We know like when we're seeing um students at home, if the parents have a lot of alcohol or a lot of drugs or nicotine, usually the kids are consuming their first. So, if we put it in front of them, there's a high likelihood. And just know that we, you know, we're not just dealing with are they going to consume, but we're also going to have to think about the future and helping them deal with their addiction. So, thank you very much.

Thank you. Anyone else like to speak? All right. Seeing none, the public hearing is closed and now Maline, you can come back up and finish questions. So, sorry, guys. That's right. So I guess back to my just implementation question, what if you rearrange your store, do you have to submit a new floor plan or kind of once you've done it, are you done? So the the same way um you know, we always have people provide floor plans um you know, with any business license they submit and as long as it's staying the same, they don't resubmit their floor plan. But if it changes, we do have people resubmit.

All right. Thanks. And just a little side comment, I have a high school senior and a recent high school graduate. And the amount of vape usage in the high school and also carts, which are marijuana or THC in in high school bathrooms, especially because there's no smoke, it's much higher than you'd be comfortable with. So anyway, thank you. I appreciate it. Uh John, thank you Meline for uh your presentation. I'm trying to wrap my head around this. Are we trying to regulate this or are we trying to prohibit this? Um Sorry.

It looks to me like we are trying to prohibit it. I mean, right now based on the chart, it's not allowed anywhere. We I was on council when we had sexually orientated businesses. We were forced to have somewhere to have that. We were forced to have alcohol type businesses in the city. And what we did is we regulated based on we drew circles around single family homes. We drew circles around churches and other places. I'm not sure why we're trying to make this illegal across the board. Is there a better way of doing this, saying where they should be instead of saying where they can't be anywhere? Right now, we have uh all of these products completely are allowed in every gas station in the city of Dunwy. As far as I know, every gas station is fully stocked with all of these products today. So, we're not going to get rid of them completely, but it's about this one type of store that has extra flavors or has more stock than what the gas station would have. I'm just trying to wrap my head around why are we, you know, eliminating it everywhere. It just doesn't seem like it's it seems like too much to me. I don't understand why we don't do that with alcohol. I mean, I don't drink that much bourbon. Maybe we should outlaw that, too, right? I'm just trying to understand where we're at. Are we a nanny society where we're trying to stop everything? So, I'm just trying to wrap my head around it. I'm happy to hear more of the discussion. So, um yeah, the the ordinance is written to regulate it as a land use specifically and saying as a land use, a standalone vape shop um is not permitted in any zoning district. Um we do have very specific um laws um for alcohol in chapter 4. Um and those laws, you know, dictate, you know, where and how and when that can be sold. Um and it does

limit the, you know, number and of liquor stores that we have in Dunwy. Um for vape shops specifically, um they're marked as prohibited. Um we have very limited, um commercial areas in Dunwy. Um and so distance regulations for those, you know, might not have much of an effect. You could still, you know, build them. Um but this ordinance is just written as a hard line of saying this is not appropriate as a standalone use. Again, it's not meant to regulate behavior or to, you know, prevent done citizens from being able to purchase them. It's just saying as a land use, you know, these types of shops are not appropriate.

Stacy, do you have a question? When you said when um Counciloman Nbacker asked a question about um other jurisdictions, you said John's Creek regulates them. Do they regulate them or do they prohibit them? Uh again, I don't know the specifics about So are do any of the jur jurisdictions around us? I mean, because I'm kind of like with John, it's not a regulation, it's a prohibition. So I'm just curious if anyone else prohibits them. That is information that I can do a little bit more research on.

I did a little research. that recently Dalton just in about a month ago uh did an ordinance very similar to this. It's prohibited citywide. Uh Dublin and Eaton also have similar ordinances. Those are the only three I could find in Georgia. There might be others. Those are the only three I could find.

Was there any thought given because Eric and I are having a disagreement. I I feel like like not too long ago that we was it marijuana that we were drawing the circles around and like there's medical marijuana and that we drew circles around and said it could only be in these certain places in the city, but it's is legal. We So, you can have medical marijuana but not a vape shop is is the I I just I'm I guess I'm kind of with Don like why we're singling out this but medical marijuana it would be allowed, right? Um my understanding for medical marijuana is because Sorry, I think we had to. Right.

Yeah. Well, I think the way the state law is written, a regular pharmacy cannot sell them medical marijuana. It sort of has to be its own standalone business. So, in order to, you know, accommodate the sale of that in Dunwy, according to state law, it needed to be regulated and defined as its own use. I think that actually makes a little bit more sense to me. Okay. Just still like John trying to wrap my head around it. Uh John, I mean Joe, sorry.

Yeah, maybe next time just if if I didn't know Paul was going to be here, but um he did. I just sent an email out as well to everybody's Johns Creek does a citywide uh um banning of the vape shops. I have I don't want to put Ken on the spot legally because we did not prep for this conversation, but um what is the analogy here of the state constitution that permits us municipality to do something that we're entertained to do? Would you mind just giving us a primer, Ken? I I.e. there's a lot of stuff in our code regarding sexually oriented businesses, adult-oriented businesses. I wasn't on council. I don't know how is that defined, but I don't know if there's any place that would allow those sexually permanent businesses.

There are places that Yeah, because it was a Supreme Court. It was a federal Supreme Court ruling. You have to allow Okay. It's Yeah, but in general, Ken, could you just the primer of the state constitution? I really can't Joe. Okay. I'm sorry.

I will just tell y'all this didn't originate out of legal obviously. Uh it was vetted between Paul and Thomas Mitchell. U let let me just stop there and just simply say I think there's things that need to be addressed before the next time is read and we'll be glad to brief y'all however we need to while maintaining the privilege. you finished? Okay. Um, so if it was up to me, we would ban vapes. I believe they're going to be the next cigarette somewhere down the road that there's lots of lawsuits about. I think there are your lawsuits. There was an article in the paper the other day about an 18-year-old who has lung cancer connected to vaping. Um, I think that they had promise. I think the promise is gone. I think one qu I think to the point we don't want them near our schools. I think they're we they're already in our stores. This is like in some ways it's actually different than a sexually oriented business because you can't you can buy this stuff on every corner already. The question is is what kind of businesses do we want to attract to our community? And also they can still open. They can be a vape store. They just have to sell 75% of other stuff. They don't they don't have to not um you know they can call themselves whatever they want. They can still sell vapes. They're just limited to 25%. Um, if I was ever going to be first on something, this might be something I because I generally don't like to be first, but I I think this is sort of simple. In Sandy Springs, they have seven vape shops between the river and 285 on Roswell Road alone. So, at a minimum, if this if we don't like the idea of banning them altogether, then we have to do something else. We have to regulate them near schools. We have to put a distance requirement, maybe relate it to gas stations that already sell them. We have to do something. So, because we have been so fortunate in Dumby, someone

mentioned the village, the village real estate's really high-end. We still got a THC store, whatever they call that. Um, and so we had to be really careful and anticipating what one small economic downturn might do to our commercial real estate. And so, and again, of all the things that were asked that we might be first in, this one doesn't bother me. I usually don't like to be first. We are not, just to clear the record, I'm guessing that Paul didn't know this. We are not allowed to regulate guns. It is in the state constitution. Um, we are prohibited from ma making the simplest of regulations as it relates to guns. Um, and so we can't do that. So, it's not it's totally not apples to apples. there probably other businesses that are, but we regul we regulate alcohol pretty heavily, I think, as someone who's had to change the ordinance over and over and over again. So, if you'll get with Ken, someone Richard, we'll get to Ken to clear up any legal mess. Um,

mayor, let me say this so I don't look like a potted plant over here. That's okay.

I can say this. The constitutional standard for any kind of zoning is regulation of time, place, and matter. those three words, time, place, and manner. When you try to prohibit conduct, assuming that you are otherwise able to do it, then it's a much trickier legal maneuver. And so, if that's what we're trying to do, we would need to go back to Thomas and figure out what that path looks like. But typically when you're talking about circles, somebody's talking about circles other regulating time, place, manner like distances and things like that is is okay. It's when you try to eliminate them completely, the standard is much different. And so I'm I'll stop on that. I hope.

Okay. You'll just get okay. Just get bring it back in a couple of weeks whenever it comes back so I can read. All right. Next is consent agenda. And I have to go wash my hands from the dog. So I give this to Okay, we are at the consent agenda. Are there any questions or comments? John, uh, I have a question regarding the Americas brief. We've done that previously. Is there a reason why we're doing it again? I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I should have briefed you.

Yeah. Uh y'all previously approved by resolution the uh Chang versus Milton brief on behalf of the city of Milton joining it amicus curai which was successful in the appellet courts there's another legal challenge arising from the same case with different legal issues and I just simply tell the mayor when the mayor uh of Milton asked for us to adopt a resolution since we adopted the first one rather than me unilaterally expanding it I'd like to get on the record that y'all are okay with that. It is still the the city's position to support that case. The legal challenge is significant and would affect you and other cities and I expect the same group that joined before will join again. I want to say it was nearly like 89 or 90 cities joined in that brief and we were one of them and I expect that to be the same

and the facts are the same in the case. Do what's the difference in this? Is there any circumstances different in the sense of the law that we're joining or that? No, it's the same case. Same case. Same case. A different uh a different legal rationale has been propounded by the plaintist that's being challenged that is on appeal. Yeah. I just didn't compare them both, you know, red line one from the other. But I read the what's on the agenda. I read what's on the agenda and I'm fine with it. I just wanted to make sure I get it from you. Yeah. I I think that probably we could have just authorized it, but I just wanted to get it in the minutes more than anything. John, thank you, sir. Any additional questions? Move to approve. Second.

Moved by Rob, second by John. All in favor of passing consent agenda say I. I. I.

Any oppose? That passes unanimous. Next up is our business items. The next item on the agenda is an ordinance to amend Dunworthy Georgia charter article 4 section 4.01 creation article 4 section 4.02 parenthesy judges and article 4 section 4.03 03 convening.

Tim, this is the second read. Uh just note for purposes of the record, all these reads that are coming up have been advertised as required by law both in the champion and the crier. Uh the law only requires us to advertise in the legal organ of the county for purposes of a charter amendment, but we also did the the choir and the championship. So it's been advertised in compliance with law. Uh we were simply asked to go back and revisit this section to do one thing, a couple things. It number one, um it's probably easier if I read it to get it right. to amend article uh 4 section 4.01 by designating the title number and confirming powers and duties of judges. Article uh four section 4.02 C to create term limits article uh 4 section 4.03 by word adding the word chief to to same. So before you just had judge or judges, we'll have a chief judge and as many uh associate judges uh who are appointed by mayor and confirmed by council. The part that was added says this uh said court shall be presided over by chief municipal judge, duly appointed by the mayor and confirmed by council and such number of associate municipal judge or judges as duly appointed by the mayor and confirmed by council. Associate judges shall have the same power and duties while presiding as a chief judge. As to the term limits, all judges shall serve a term, excuse me, all judges shall serve for a term of four years, but in no event more than two consecutive or non-consecutive terms. The term limits here and apply prospectively to all appointments or reapp appointments made on or after May 1st uh 2026. And the rest of the

ordinance is the same except for the adding the word chief in front of in front of judge on 4.03 convening. As to term limits, uh no no time served right now matters. What matters is appointments after May 1st of 2026 or reappoints after 2026. So this is not an expos facto term limit. It's a going forward term limit and it didn't originate from us. We're simply putting the words together to carry out the intent that we've been asked to bring before council.

And it is a second read. It's been advertised as required by law. If we're ready to move, John, go ahead. I'm trying to understand and wrap my head around that. I see that we have two or three of our judges here today. We've had public comment against some aspects of it. I question I would state that we already have term limits. Right now we have term limits because right now your term is up. Correct me if I'm wrong. And the mayor has to then renominate you and you come back in front of us. Is that not the case?

Well, they that is the case, but the mayor has term limits and so it kind of made sense to in in my view it kind of made sense to have the judge's terms run with the mayor. But but with all with all of the different judges that are happening and I mean they're not all up at once would be my guess. Maybe I'm wrong but for the most part four of our f four of our six of our seven, correct me if I'm wrong, are up at the same time. So we got somehow we got on a cycle where they were up on the same time.

Again, I don't have a term limit. We don't we all don't have term limits here except for the mayor. I I don't want to be hypocritical by putting term limits on others. I see the value of having judges that are, you know, have are long in the tooth. Um, that being said, I again, I do believe that there are term limits. We have the process in place in front of us right now. If the mayor is in charge of nominating judges to us, the council who approve if there is a reason, shape, or it's the mayor's full discretion. I'm not sure when we need to change this now looking at it a little deeper than we have the rest of the chief judge and the rest of it I'll defer I was you know also hoping that the judges were part of this discussion I'm guess I'm that they may not have been but I'm trying to understand what's in front of us now and if the term limits want to be remaining in is that number the correct number why four years why not why not eight years it is eight years

but why not why two terms why not four terms terms. I'm just trying to understand. But to me, I think the mayor has the full authority to do as he or she says and can uh put that nomination forward or not. That's true. I mean, it's up to it's council's discretion. Go ahead, Joe.

Um, respectfully, this is the first time I just heard from the any of our judges. So, I have an email. I'm not sure if anybody else got emailed, but we're accessible and open. So, I don't apologize when you or may or may not have heard about this change, but it had been posted and the public knew and it was we added in our last, you know, we've we've presented it before. Number one. Number two, if we vote in the affirmative, it could still be modified in the future. There's nothing to to prevent modifying our charters. That's what we're doing now. We're adjusting. Um, and then just from a commentary, I I do support term limits and I would go if and if we are were to do to to do council, I'd say three terms three terms for council. Sure. No one's irreplaceable. So those those are my my thoughts.

I have a question for Ken. Well, wait. Does anybody else have something down here? Okay. A question. If we does everything about the judges have to be regulated in the charter or can some of it be regulated by ordinance? for municipal court. I'm just you may not know the answer. I think it depends on what you're talking about. I mean, you regulate the crimes that are or the citations that are in front of judges, but you the power is from the charter. It emanates from the charter.

But the power emanates from the charter to the judges or to the court? Like in the charter, could you just say you were going to have a municipal court and then not talk about judges or you have to talk you probably have to talk about judges in the charter. empowered by virtue of the charter the court. Okay. All right. It's amend it's amendable, right? I mean, if somebody want cares enough to make a motion, I'd like to make a motion to amend the uh item in front of us to remove term limits. My second So, can I point of order? Wait, point of order. What do we need a motion before we take an amendment? Probably.

Okay. Well, I make a motion to whatever. Go ahead. Right. Go ahead, Ken. Go ahead, Ken. Am I So, so what's in here? What's in the charter is you can function what's in the charter. When we were looking at it, aside from the term limits, we thought it was appropriate to have a chief judge because there were already was technical violations of the charter by the number of judges based on what was in the charter. So if we went back to other charter, we have more judges than the charter originally contemplated to start with. So that's why we put a chief judge, but we gave associate judges when presiding the same power as a chief judge. Right. We also

So the the part that matters to me is a lawyer. Mhm. is I do think that structure of chief judge and associates having the power while presiding as a chief judge is appropriate. The term limit is a political decision you all got to make. But um John, I don't know if that addresses your question. I just wanted to make sure that we didn't have a bunch of different motions as far as the legal part. The legal part I think is getting the judges correct because we were already sort of lopsided on that. Uh we're that's fix that's fixing that the term limits is up to y'all and we are able to make modifications to what's in front of us tonight.

So so what I would feel comfortable with if you don't do something advertised that's fine. If you're going to do something it has to be fall within the gamut of what was advertised. If it's something completely off the rails we may need to start all over again. So deleting the term limits would be acceptable. that deleting a term lev, we would just go back to what's in section 4.02 uh subject to the other changes in 4.1 4.01 and 4.03 which have nothing to do with term limits. Thank you. What what about expanding the number of term limits? What if we say like you know Joe mentioned three? We say well we think three is better than two. Would that fall within that same?

So so here's the tricky part of this. What's been advertised is two, right? And so when you're doing more, the best answer would be to advertise that and do it correct. So if somebody willy-nilly one day ever challenges it, it's perfect. Uh the jury is still out as to whether or not you can make changes and somebody's in judicial interpretation. Did that change fall within the ambit of what was being advertised? And so, you know, that's a concern of mine. I'll just sign. Okay. So, start over, John, because we never got Oh, wait, Stacey. I'm sorry.

I just want to be clear. So, right now in in our charter, it says the judge shall serve it for a term of four years, but may be removed if they're not good judges. After four years, they have to be reappointed by the mayor. Correct. Yes. And confirmed by council. Yes. I don't ever remember voting. You've only done it once and you did you approved these judges. We swore them in right Sharon. We had a resolution. Okay. But you don't interview them or anything. They just But I've been on here seven years and I So they've only been once. So they would theoretically have to come up their next this term their terms expire this end of June. Okay. So that's why we're trying to get this done now.

Okay. I'm just saying that it's why you don't remember because it's been once and it was nearly four years ago. All right. Anybody else questions or comments? Um, I'd like to make a motion to amend. No, first you to make a motion approve. Okay. Move to approve with with a condition that we are removing term limits from this item. I'll second. All right.

Can I get a point of clarification? Since that's only in section 4.02, we would stick with the 4.02 that's already on the books. Is that right, John? In other words, in structuring the term limits, we rewrote part of subsection A. Uh we did not rewrite um well, excuse me, rewrote part of subsection C. And so if we go back, it would be it would read this way. that a judge shall serve for a term of four years, but may be removed from position by twothirds vote of the entire membership of city council and shall be removed upon action taken by state judicial qualifications commission for and there's a list of conduct things that get a judge removed.

Correct. I'm just looking for the term limits to be removed. Okay. Everything else stays. Again, I'm not getting I don't have a red line in front of me. So, okay. Well, here's how it would read if we leave everything under C just for clarification that I that's been proposed. If we take out the term limits, it would just simply say all judges shall serve for a term of four years. Um, judges may be removed from the position by twothirds vote of the entire membership of city council or shall be removed upon action taken by the state judicial qualifications for and it's the same conduct pain.

Correct. uh if that's what it will revert back to if we leave it. So if your motion is to approve the changes except for the 4.02 term limit language, we would go back to the original uh we would keep everything but the 4.02. Correct. Okay. So that's my that was my intention. I believe that's what Tom seconded. Right. When I say we'll keep everything. So I'm technically correct. We'll keep the 4.02 2 as it currently is and is proposed modified except for the C language that deals with term limits. That would be removed. Correct. Okay. Any discussion or questions?

Go ahead. Is any I'm just open up. I'm I'm open to hearing the opposing view if there's any other council members that are appro believe that we should have the the term limits in in here. If you feel like you'd feel like speaking up now, I'd be more than interested in hearing your perspective if you feel so. Go ahead.

I feel we have spent time looking at this section and discussing how long the uh judges have been serving. Some some number have served since day one. I think we need the term limits. They're much like the mayor. It's just not a forever job. and I will be voting against John's amendment.

I'm going to say I think John actually made a pretty good argument that I think the next time this comes up for a council, I think we can look at that and go, you know, 16 years is enough, right? Let's let someone new come in. Or we can go, you know, I think things are running well. Let's keep going. I that was it was compelling enough for me that I agree with the the amended. John,

could I ask you Rob a question? And this goes back to the mayor, but if we look at the boards and commissions, those are recommended by the mayor and brought up on a council agenda for action. So in our what you're saying, Rob, is that you would trust the next mayor to make that decision and not the council. So the mayor is going to present it right now. The the boards and commission appointments get placed on an agenda by the mayor. So does this. Okay. Yes. So does this. You voted on it. I don't know, four years ago.

Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. So, but if if there were uh other council members that heard or was, you know, there was there was public how does it work if we say, well, we we we don't want to just do you want to have input in addition to the mayor of replacing. My understanding though is that the resolution and correct me if I'm wrong on this, resolution for the judges is voted on by council. Yes. Appointments to boards are the prerogative of the mayor. So, the mayor No, I you still vote on them. Vote the nomination. It's a nomination and they should probably be term limited too, but I don't know.

And and to be clear, if some if there is a judge when their term is up, there's no obligation of the mayor or anyone else to renominate that same person. If there was an issue with a particular judge, that person could simply not be nominated for another term. Mayor's prerogative. And I I'll make the comment when I joined the planning commission. um Denny Short I I don't want to say cleaned house, but he kind of decided that everybody that had been serving on planning commission had been there long enough and didn't renew anybody's terms. And so half the the planning commission kind of rolled off and they had been, you know, kind of long-term members since the beginning of the city. So, um it does happen that the the mayor and council do decide it's time for for fresh blood and and rolls. You mean the mayor? The mayor would decide

except that we we vote. I mean, it's a it's a council vote

by the I was I voted against nominations before. I'm not suggesting y'all do, but I voted against nominations pretty much the whole last year of my city council service for lots of different reasons, but certainly it can happen. Um I think when I look at the ordinance so what so one thing we can do in the ordinances I think is define what the selection process looks like better because it is in the ordinances in section 12-2 there's a section about judges and it feels like we could add to the ordinance if we wanted to some best practices about selection of judges and then maybe that addresses council participation by putting a council member on said selection committee or something. We don't have to decide that tonight.

I don't think that the council is doing its due diligence. I'll put myself in the same category in determining whether these judges should remain. I think it's like the presidential election. They're going to give you two and then that's all there is because I can't name one judge that we have and we've had him for a long time. I think this is a safer policy. Okay. Any further discussion? I will call the question. All in favor of John's amended motion say I. I.

Any opposed? That's four to three. Um voted against it. Yeah. The nos were second or law and me. Thank you all for your diligence. I just want madam before madam mayor before you go on I want to make sure the clerks got it right. So John's motion was the singular motion in that but it was amending what had been advertised essentially. You got that? Okay. Thank you.

Okay. Now next Oh sh you have to do it Ken. Sorry. Yeah, Sharon, you're gonna read. I was sharing. Sorry.

The next item is second read of an ordinance to amend Dunwy Georgia charter article 2 section 2.09 PNA a meetings oath of office and mayor prompor. Uh madame mayor and councel u the proposed charter amendment which has been advertised as required by law and also additionally in the local paper it's been in the choir and the champion um seeks to amend article 2 section 2.9 of the charter of the city by changing the date of the first meeting in January after a municipal election to the first Monday excluding legal holidays. Um the only the oath is exactly the same as it's been. It now would read in subsection A 2.09A excuse me 2.09 meetings oath of office mayor pro Tim A. The city council shall meet on the first Monday excluding legal holidays in January immediately following each regular municipal election. Meeting shall be called to order by the mayor elect and the oath of office shall be administered to the newly elected mayor and council members collectively by a judicial officer authorized to administer oaths. The oath shall say to the extent that it comports with federal and state law, be as follows colon. That's the same oath. And so this has been advertised. It's ready for discussion and a motion if appropriate. Um, this is a really necessary change because every four every two years when we have an election, there is so much confusion about this. Plus, the truth is is that in theory, you could go a week without a mayor. I mean, sort of because like Denny went on a cruise and it was like 6 days before I was sworn in officially. And so, this is just a much smoother transition and kind of reflects what everybody else does, which is the first Monday after the new year. So,

excluding a holiday. Excluding a holiday. So, then it would be Tuesday. Yeah. Move to approve. Moved by Tom, second by Rob. Any further discussion or questions? Seeing none, I call the question. All in favor say I.

Thank you. Any oppose? No. That passes unanimously. Bear with me one moment please. The next item is an ordinance to amend Dunwy Georgia charter article 1 section 1.03 point per pen BN 36 powers and construction article 1 section 1.03 03 point PNB B point PN 37 PN A powers and construction and article 1 section 1.03 03 point PNB B PN 43 powers and construction.

Um, madame mayor and councel, this is uh been discussed. It's been advertised both in the choir and the champion. I do want to make sure you note that section 43 is part of this that section 43 change is if in case the city ever determines it wants to have its own fire department. the limiting language was been removed the the uh but it includes 43 and that's what was advertised. I actually read the champion inquire just to make sure that the ad was correct. So the agenda in includes 1.03b 36 37A and 43 and the and 43 is a scriber error but it is been advertised appropriately. Uh, and you'll remember during the original discussion before we even started advertising, this was brought up by Councilman Lambert about the removal just in case one day the city ever has its own fire department. But I want to I'm going to spend just a tad more time on this one because this one bears, you know, somebody said it's not whether you could or should. Well, I want to make sure everybody understands you can. is very important legally to understand what we're doing is we're cleaning up language that is inconsistent and vague in the charter. And so under the powers under section 1.03 and this would be article one creation and corporation powers section 1.03 3 powers in construction. Subay the very first sentence. The city shall have all powers possible for city have under the present or future constitution and laws of the state as fully and completely as though they were specifically enumerated in this act. The the city shall have all powers of self-government not otherwise prohibited by this act or general law. So the very first sentence incorporates the state

constitution not how it just was on that day but as it's been amended through time. You have all those powers. It then goes on to list under subsection B the powers of the city shall be construed deliberatively in favor of the city. And it gives a bunch of enumerated powers. But I first want to talk about what are the powers we talking about special tax district. First, under Georgia Constitution, Article 9, uh, section 2, paragraph 2, the home rule statute gives you the power to regulate the charter. that was uh passed on to you by virtue of the legislature in OCGA section 36-356 uh sub one municipal charters may be amended by ordinances duly adopted and it goes through the process about advertising and two reads and all that kind of stuff so it's clear when you can do it. The special tax districts are also in the constitution even though they're buried in section 43 as well. But the constitution right now, article 9, section 2, paragraph 6, allows cities to have special tax districts. And I tell folks when you're looking at the laws, the first thing that comes first is the constitution. Then general laws that apply to everybody. And then local acts which are this is a local act or local law is is third on the list. So you already have in the very first subsection A of 1.03 the powers that are granted to you in the constitution which includes implementation of special tax districts. I also want to point out in section 43 already it says special tax districts to exercise all authority provided by article 9 section 2 paragraph uh six of the constitution of Georgia to create

special tax districts for the provision of local government services within such districts and to collect fees assessment taxes within such district to pay wholly or partially the cost of providing such services therein period. The last sentence is being eliminated by virtue of this proposal. So you already have this and you're not creating a special tax district tonight. There's a specific statutory me mechanism for how you create it. If you created it before the end of the year, you could not impose it this year anyway. It has to be in place before January 1 of the year is intended to be imposed. And I also might add, as far as tools in the box, you can have a special tax district that you levy zero. That you levy zero. Even though it's p it's adopted before January 1 of the year in question, you could still have a levy of zero. So we think the constitution trumps. We think the constitution is the first thing in here and supersedes everything else. And then general law supersedes everything else. And the legislature has given y'all the powers to not come to them every time you want to change a word in your charter. You do it yourself nowadays. That's how it works. So, we're cleaning up the charter and this was with legal u analysis by me and team and we're doing the following or proposing the following that's been advertised. Proposed charter amendment seeks to amend article one section 1.03. 3 point sub uh prince B prince closed prince 36 prince closed comma par 37 pins close print again a prince close and 43 as follows in section 36 excuse

me in subsection 36 by adding the words quote except as provided in section 1.03 B43 in subsection 37A by the way the section 1.03 103 B43 is a provision I read to you that says special tax districts giving you the power to exercise all authority by the constitution when it comes to special tax district um in section 37A by adding the following sentence. This subsection shall not apply to section 1.03b 3B43. Nor shall same apply to general obligation bonds or intergovernmental contracts backing revenue bonds issued pursuant to law. Let me pause for a second. This is not saying we're issuing bonds because to issue bonds, GEO bonds, general obligation bonds, you got to go to the voters for a referendum. That's the law. It's not doesn't matter what your charter says. That's state law. With respect to intergovernmental contracts, you are authorized by state law to enter into other contracts with other governments for longer than you can anybody else. Most contracts are annual contracts subject to annual funding, but you can enter a contract like service delivery with Dicab County to provide you fire services or EM well fire. Let's just stick with fire services or other services. um you could enter a contract with the board of regents or USG regarding a campus if it's in your area and that could be for up to 50 years under the law. So those things are already there and we're just making sure whoever wrote this wasn't thinking about that at the time. I don't or maybe it just didn't come up. We're putting it in because it's already there. It's provided by law. Um, and in subsection 43, we're deleting

the last sentence dealing that deals with that uh uh restricting what you can charge if you ever decide to deliver fire services and rescue services in the city. We know you're not doing anything right now because you have one a service delivery strategy, but we do know the constitution says and state law says that nobody can provide y'all fire services unless you agree to let them provide it by contract. If you decide not to have a contract with a third party provider, the cab for instance, and do it yourself, that restrictive sentence is so out of date it makes no sense anymore. And Tom, Mr. Councilman Lambert brought that up just in case. We're not creating a fire service and rescue service tonight. We're simply removing obstacles in the future for future mayors and council or this mayor and counsel at any time to consider doing something differently. Um, I think I hit those highlights and we're open to any debate. Um questions. John, go ahead.

Ken, you mentioned Scribner's error in 36. Tell me what you meant by that.

Oh, on the agenda, it says section article 1, section 1.83b, 36, and 37A. It does not say and 43. 43 deals with the fire services thing, but it's been advertise correctly because I've read the advertise from the prior and we actually advertise more than the law requires because we did the local newspaper and the cab county and it's been on file uh with the clerk here and on the on file with the clerk superior court for public inspection anytime and it's attached to y'all's agenda.

And then may I ask did Sharon read the item correctly if it was missing or does it need to be rereaded? draft, not the agenda list. She read correctly. She read correctly. I just want to make sure if there's a from the caption of ordinances at the very top, that legal caption of the ordinance. Yes.

Okay. Thank you. I'm glad to hear all that and thank you for that explanation. Um I have a question about revenue bonds. If a revenue bond, for those who might not be aware, for example, um the uh hotel motel tax gets paid. If we did a revenue bond on that and then the hotel took a big dump, how does this section affect the repayment of revenue bonds?

So, John, I I would need to teach a class on that, but let me be I'm going to say it depends, but let me explain it. Um, if the a development authority issue issues bonds, typically they're not at risk of the local government or a failure typically. And so it depends on the type of revenue bonds. Typically what you see issuing that's not referendum or geo bonds would be like you enter a deal with GIMA to finance a building where GIMA owns it and you're the lesser until you make a string of payments usually backed by financing bonds and when those payments are made you get the building at the end. Those are allowed by law and can be a long-term arrangement. So I think I I need more specifics. I don't know.

You mentioned a lot of the other bonds and other situations, but you didn't mention revenue, so I'm not sure how it relates. Um, and it doesn't really matter. I'm voting against this. Everybody over here knows I'm voting against this, and they're going to vote how they want. I'm not sure matter, but I was just trying to understand it. Okay. Here's what I think you're I think you're saying. Can you finance a bond where the pledge is the revenue source from a special tax district? The answer is yes. I know that we we've we were

that might have been in consideration someday, but I was just wondering if then the tax rate, the millage rate would be affected or what would happen on the special district or what would happen under that realm? the the typically you're pledging your collection from the special district separate from the general revenue of the city and you are getting you're getting rated on what that your ability to tax that district to pay those bonds. Okay.

So the the the it's typically the way you put in a special tax district. Uh forget about how you let's just say we put this parking lot for a special tax district to pave it. you don't have any money because you haven't collected anything yet. So, you really advance funding, the paving and then the payment back is the people that own this parking lot pay back through assessment in the special tax district. That's how you improve the special tax district. You don't have to. All right. You don't have to finance through bonds. That's how you do. You mentioned a lot of other bonds. I wasn't sure if revenue came into play differently. Um I appreciate the answer. Thank you. Mike. Oh, go ahead.

I guess I'm just going to make a comment just um to help I guess avoid confusion is just to reiterate that we're not voting to establish a special tax district tonight. We're not voting to establish a new tax tonight. Um we're addressing conflicting language in the charter and getting that cleaned up. Um and we already have some special taxes in the city, um street light districts and storm water districts. And so those improvements are paid for with special taxes. So, um, this to me is just a clean up to make sure our charter matches kind of what we're already doing and what state law already requires. Uh, Joe,

um, you know, the citizens, uh, it's public knowledge that we're part-time. We get paid a stipen of $1,000 a month and and most of us have full-time jobs. I just retired about a year and a half ago, but um with that $1,000 a month return on investment, some of us have opportunity to take vacation days and attend professional training and I've been fortunate enough to have been able to do that. And I've I I took a class uh I've taken 93 hours of training at the Georgia Municipal Association. Just in uh March was a class uh on municipal finance, too. I've been to three or four of them. And when you go to these you see these other cities in outside of Atlanta uh Dunwy and you see people small towns big towns a lot of different people have a lot of problems that we don't have. We have first world problems in Dunwhaty. Let me tell you we have great things going on here. Economic benefit economic activity. Our taxpayers are our our residents are so happy because I'm paying the same amount to Dunwhaty that I did in 2009 because of the freeze and all that stuff. And so when I look at the city of Madison, their downtown development authority had cash flow and they bought a liquor store. The government development authority bought a liquor store and they flipped it and made it a park. And then the development authority went out and built a new liquor store and sold it to a private developer. So when you get out of Dunway and you start attending classes and seeing all the other cities, they are doing tons of things here that we have available tools in our toolbox. People talk about let's get rid of the post office. How do we pay for the post office? Where do we get money? Because we're paying the lowest property tax rate in all of Georgia, Dicap County, whatever. If people want us to invent, want us to go and buy the post office. How are we going to go pay for it? How are we going to put a park in that? We got wild empty park up here on Roberts. How are we going to pay for that? So, you know, we need to have the tools and we'll go to the citizens and

ask, right? So that one day we may have to go and come up with the money if we want to buy the post office and make it a park or something. So we need to have all these tools in the toolboxes just like in May 11th of 2009 the elected officials at the time decided to impose a new fee on all the citizens of Dunwhaty which in my interpretation broke the the the charter mill rate camp and it was called a storm order fee. So in May 11th 2009 that was enacted. So that's been established. Um, now we have a a good legal advice. Let's clean up our things so we could go forward. If we want to do Don Woody Village if we want to have a street light district of having street lights in places along Ashford Center Parkway and let our children, people get up early in the morning have places that see because it really started back we had our city council retreat in March of 2025 and we brought up the idea of can we put in some street lights in some places that are dark? How can we fund that? and we asked staff to look at it. They said, "Well, potentially we could consider a citywide streetlight district, but we need to have our legal fees, legal things in place, and then we're going to have conversations about it because I don't pay a street light fee, but some people do." So if we we had talked about maybe we create a public safety uh district for public safety but we don't need to but it's like so anyway um cities do have spl they do revenue bonds splass people paying the penny tax they do a revenue bond against recurring funds all the time in in in the state of Georgia. So anyway um I support this change. Thank you. Stacy

move to approve. Second.

All right. I want to make a point which is is that the first council violated their own charter by passing fees. Just laying it out there. They did. I predict that within 24 months, maybe 36, you won't be if you have a homestead property in Georgia, you're unlikely to be paying prop municipal property taxes anymore. I believe that's what the legislature is moving towards. They passed a bill this year. It may happen sooner, but I think it goes into effect a year from now. Um, I can't help you with the school taxes. The legislature didn't help you with the school taxes, but I except for capping how much your assessed value can go up, which is 3%. We're not, despite what you just heard from Junk Joe, we have no plans to raise taxes. We are cleaning up the charter. And actually, we don't have a need to raise taxes right now. We have no need to raise taxes. We had a $ three.5 million surplus a year ago. Uh at the end of 2025, I believe Eric can correct me. Will announce another surplus. But we need to clean this up. We need your street. If you want if a street doesn't have street lights right now, we can't let you get them. We have to fix this. It's it's very simple. It seems complex. People can project all they want. If we were to do a bond, you get to vote on it. It's not um it's not something we can just do ourselves. And um we need to fix this to get ourselves in alignment with what we're already practicing. And in addition, we talk about um fire services. It's not something we even want to take over, but it is the only way we can directly control emergency medical services. Knock on something. It's going well right now, but it's been up. if you paid any attention and done what he it's been up, it's been down. And um and so in the future, in the hopefully not in the near future,

because we've worked really hard on it, we may have to consider changing that so that we can make sure we get rapid emergency management services, emergency medical services, but none of that's going to happen in the dark and none of that's going to happen without robust public discussion. And so this is just to clean up the charter despite what everyone might be angsting about. Also, if you've lived here since 2008 or nine, I encourage you to look at your property tax bill and look at your city taxes because they haven't changed. You know, they a little bit here and there, but they haven't changed. And you pay zero county property taxes. You pay school system taxes. That's what the bulk of your bill is. And sanitation. So, um, but, uh, but there's no intention to do anything with this right now. We were making these other changes. it made sense to do it now, especially because the legislature continues. I mean, they already did make one pretty significant tweak to property taxes on homestead uh properties this session. I believe they will continue to talk about it either in the special session that's coming at in July or in for sure next year. So, uh, we're just, uh, being prepared, but we have zero need or interest in raising taxes right now. All right. Motion on the table. Any further discussion? I call the question. All in favor say I.

Any opposed? No. Okay. Uh, that five to two. Next whenever Sharon's ready. Excuse me.

The next item is an ordinance to amend Dunwy, Georgia Charter, Article 5, Section 5.03 PNA A submission of operating budget to city council and article 5 section 5.04 04 PNB action by city council on budget.

Madame Mayor and council, the proposed amendment, this two was advertised in both the champion inquires required by law and on file. All of these with the superior court clerk and the city clerk. The proposed charter amendment seeks to amend section 5.03 points a pins close and section 5.04 04.B prince closed in order to change the dates required under the charter for the city manager to submit for the ensuing fiscal year proposed budget by the first day of the 10th month of the fiscal year currently ending and to change the dates required by council to adopt a budget for the ensuing fiscal year by the first day of the 12th month of the fiscal year currently ending to read as follows. Owner before this is section 5.03 submission of operating budget to city council. Subsection A on a before a date fixed by the city council but no later than the first day of the 10th month of the fiscal year currently ending. The city manager shall after input review and comment by the mayor submit to the city council proposed operating budget and capital budget for the ensuing fiscal year. The budget shall be accompanied by a message from the mayor and city manager containing a statement of the general fiscal policies of the city city uh the important features of the budget. Explanation of explanations of major changes recommended by the next fiscal year. A general summary, excuse me, let me go back. Explanations of major changes recommended for the next fiscal year. a general summary of the budget and such other comments and information as they may deem pertinent. The operating budget, capital budget, the budget message, and all supporting documents shall be filed in the office of the city manager and shall be open to public inspection. Section section 5.04 action by city council on the budget where only thing we're amending is subsection B. City Council shall adopt a budget for the ensuing fiscal year no

later than the first day of the 12th month of the fiscal year currently ending. If city council fails to adopt the budget by the prescribed deadline, the operating budget and capital budget proposed by the mayor and city manager shall be adopted without further action by the city council. All right. Any questions or comments? Move to approve. Move by Rob. Second. Second by Stacy any these are requests made by our finance department. Correct. This request came from the charter review commission over five years ago and it came from the finance committee before that. So finance committee sanctioned the staff the staff.

So okay any further discussion or questions? Seeing none I call the question. All in favor say I.

Any opposed? Hearing nonely thank you. The next item under business items is renewal of property and liability insurance with Garma. John Gates, mayor and council, uh I have an agenda item, action item for you tonight regarding the uh property and liability insurance with Georgia interlocal risk management association known as Gurma. The action is to authorize the mayor, city manager, or designate to execute all documents necessary and proper to renew the city's property and liability insurance coverage with Gurma in the amount of $828,08. Some details. The city's property and liability insurance was bid out in 2021, moving from travelers insurance to government. The c this contract has an auto renewal each year. Below is a comparison of the 2026 premium versus the 2025 premiums. In 2025, the total premiums were $757,19. The 2026 renewal, the amount is $828,08. The 2026 premiums are increased by 70,989 or 9.4% compared to 2025. After discussions with Gurma, this is consistent with what other members are experiencing. Additionally, Gurma noted that there are several key factors

driving the need for increases to all members. Most notably, unfavorable claim trends dealing with auto liability and property and high inflation levels which impact the replacement and repair costs of vehicles and buildings. Additionally, the 2026 budget included a 10% increase in premiums for a total budget of $832,720. The current renewal premium is $4,712 below what we budgeted for this year. Staff and the city of Tuner have reviewed the coverage and terms and are recommending approval of the renewal with government. The current policy runs from May 1st of the current year to May 30th of next year. The recommendation is to authorize the mayor, city manager or designate to execute all documents necessary and proper to renew the city's property and liability insurance coverage for May 1, 2026 to April 30th, 2027 in the amount of $828,08.

Thank you. Anybody have questions? Oh, go ahead, Rob. So, we're looking at a nine what? Not quite nine and a half% increase. Is that because of claims history on from the city from the larger pool or just inflation year-over-year? Do we do we know what's causing that's kind of a big jump? What's causing that? It's a combination. It's a combination of what's happening in the city as well as what's happening generally across the uh the pool of people that they're insured.

All right. I mean, I'm fine with approving this, but if um we have some sort of risk mitigation measures we can take in the city to reduce our contribution to uh to the liability pool, you know, defensive driving classes or something. Um I'm just looking at that. That's a a rather high number there. Um so anyway, thank you.

Well, we do have uh safety training coming up and dealing with uh vehicle impact in terms of how our employees drive those vehicles. We have training on that that's coming up. Um, I think it's going up like in people's personal lives too. People are seeing big jumps in their homeowners insurance. And I'm curious because one thing is is the age of roofs. I don't know if Jay because we didn't have anybody else here, but like some people are not able to get homeowners insurance or their roofs are being excluded if their roofs are certain age. Are we facing that kind of criteria or they don't look at that right now? They're not looking at that. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

We have to provide that information to them. Okay. So, you do have to provide it. All right. Any um Oh, go ahead, Joe. Thank you, Mr. Gates. Um, was this put out for a competitive bid? Are we getting other quotes? No, because we have a contract with government. So, this is just a renewal process. And so, uh, the folks that did the budget for 2026, I don't, you know, I don't have it memorized. line item 10% increase for the 2027 are we just going to by default add another 10% each year how is that is that the trend here comes Jay yeah the trend has been that that the insurance has gone up every now and then uh you know when we switch companies one time we did get deduction

the problem is we have other issues when we switch companies based on how you know Gurma is a specialty company for governmental insuranceances but yes we do budget every year an increase in insurance you know, say something about uh and and I'm not a I don't I'm not a stockholder in Gurma and I'm not advertising them, but when you when you move, there's a cost of that move that gets built in in cases two, three, four years down the road because when you move again, suddenly the carrier that you thought you had coverage is not as interested you and as a customer anymore and tend to do things that maybe you may not want to Germa is developed primarily for governments and they need to be held accountable. But you got a little bit more input and G what Germa does than you do with some of the other ones because of how they're they're designed for y'all only exclusively. The other problem is the major carriers keep shrinking government coverage because of exposures. And so while you may go with a brand name today, whether they do coverages two or four years from now, they may not. And so I would be I'm not I wouldn't give an open ticket on what you pay, but I would be very careful about changing without knowing what you're getting into.

Okay, it's an action item. Move to approve. Move by Stacy. Uh second by Rob. All in favor say I. Any opposed? Hearing none. Thank you. Thank you. And also just to my fellow council members, I think Germa has a board that city council people can get on or mayors, but not going to be me. But if you're interested because we're customers, maybe consider applying the next time it opens. Is Michelle 17. Yes.

Good evening, mayor and council. Um, I'm here to present a project framework agreement for with G dot for the North Peach Tree Road Path project. This agreement is like a lot of the other federal grant projects that we've done in the past, Village and North Shallford Road, um, where we have to enter into an agreement with G DOT for any phase of the project that contains federal dollars. Um so this project was identified in the city's adopted trail master plan. Um it will connect the top end um regional trail network um along 285. Additionally um the city it was identified in the city's road safety um action plan that North Peach Tree was a high injury injury network corridor and recommended increasing safety measures for both pedestrians and cyclists. Last September, the city was awarded a transportation alternative grant um for preliminary engineering and rideway um for the North Peach Tree Road project. Um it begins at the intersection of Contilion. It heads north um along Chestnut uh Elementary and Peach Tree Middle School and then it ends at Barklay um Drive at um the park at Brick Run Park. Um so this grant um originally included both the design um and for the design and construction of the path and the sidewalk, but um you know we removed the sidewalk portion from um this project um and it was moved forward using local funding. So um that scope will be removed from this project moving forward. Um the grant awards the city 2.1 million in preliminary engineering, 1.1 million in rideaway. Um so this these amounts do include um the 20% local match that's required as part of

the grant. Um the city does have an excess budget in the Shambbley Dunwy um bridge enhancement project um for FY27 to 29 and so we'll utilize these funds for the project for our local match. I'm happy to answer any questions. Questions. Um, so the sidewalk project is on I'm very bad. I think is that this east side? It is on the east side and this this is on the west side. So this will allow people to go from Chestnut well beyond start Baptist

all the way up to the park. It will connect to um the paths that are planned as part of top end on Catillian, right? And so it'll be um a complete um connection connectivity and then head all the way up to Brookun Park. Okay. And um in but the path for the other side for the east side, we're working on that separately. That is separate. Yes. So they're currently um out doing survey. Okay. They're finishing up survey um which should be done in the next month or so. Okay. Right. Um, yeah. And so when the Okay. So some of this like Ches already has a wide sidewalk in front of it.

So we'll connect to that. That was um some of that was done when we um Yes. And then we have the um the PHPS that are already out there. So we did plan like where these cabinets were because we knew that this path was coming because it was identified in the trail master plan um so that it would be part of a future project and you know that we give flex flexibility and width right so if there's tree utilities and because utility movements slows us incredibly down okay all right well we look forward to seeing this on an agenda item go ahead John

yeah thank you Michelle I uh also am a little bit wishing that this was on the east side, but I understand that's not going to happen. But we're still looking forward to making that a reality, and I think that's very important moving forward. Uh, looking at the documents on G Dot's website, um, I pulled up the project information sheet and I saw that the construction cost was about $13 million for three quarters of a mile.

So, that was pulled from the application. Um and it we really don't have any data. Um so that was something that we internally estimated like staff estimated that based off of some historical data that we have um from our other projects. Um but now that we have pulled out the sidewalk portion that number will come down um as part of construction. But we really don't know what that number is until we get into design and are able to get some survey data and get some data and kind of put some pend

I appreciate that. I just I'm thinking $13 million for three quarters of a mile is an awful lot of money. And when you said that somewhere in here you said that we have money available from another project that could be pulled over. I guess the bridge project there's money left there. At our last meeting, I raised the issue of the underpass, uh, an agreement with G DOT, which shows that G DOT was pulling out a turnaround lane, but putting in the 12-oot or the 10- foot trail underneath. Again, that is very important. And I'm not sure if the money that you are saying is available from the Shambbley Dunwy Bridge is more relevant to doing that underpass. That underpass to me is the greatest need in that corridor. This the sidewalks are already there. So we're going from a 5-ft sidewalk to a 10 12t sidewalk on the west side with some lighting. The sidewalks already there. That underpass and taking funds from other projects to do this 12oot trail I think is overkill. So we did reach back out to GOAT and coordinated with them and and get some clarification on the return access. Um so just looking at the documentation um from the 22 letter it was stated that they it was in the scope for the return access was in the scope of the project but sometime between 24 to to 25 they actually then did put the pen to paper and they did the analysis and it was not feasible due to the site distance um and it did not have to do with the shared use path at that point. Um they had said they would commit to it but they hadn't looked at it, you know, putting the shared use path in either. Um so it was not contingent on either a shared use path or on the return access lane. They're saying that the return access lane is not feasible in any scenario because of site distance

issues. Um and so then they were like, "Oh, we had this extra space and we can put the shared use path in here." Yeah. I don't I'm not an engineer, but I don't understand the sight distance when you're going when you're basically doing a U-turn and we're putting in the U-turn. But, um, again, highly disappointed if we don't get that return access road. Uh, again, I think that is going to be a major impediment to our traffic wos in the future.

So, as part of this, they are the developer is required to do additional like level of service and intersection operation analysis. Um, and so then we would definitely be able to see what that effect would be and and then that would need to go to G DOT for approval before anything is implemented. Thank you. I think Oh, go ahead, Tom.

Uh, thank you. Yeah, thank you, Michelle. Um, yeah, personally, I think this is a very important project for the city. I know it was high on our priority list um uh for a number of reasons. We have two schools, three churches, our our featured park all along this route as well as a connection to the to the pedestrian facilities in Catillian and across 285 to a plan trail in Shambly that's moving forward right now. I don't know when they're breaking ground, but it's I know that from talking to some of my counterparts over there that's happening soon. So, uh for all those reasons, I think this is a really important project. Um two two points I just want to bring up and and the first one is got a lot of questions around it but I'm I just want to put it out there. Um as we go through the design process uh we all know Cab County School System is doing their uh school assessment right now and one of the million things that is being discussed is the possibility of of rebuilding Chestnut. Um, and I just want to make sure that our designers, uh, whatever we're planning along that portion is adaptable to whatever future use because I'd hate for us to go and invest a whole bunch of money into a a design and a plan and possibly even construction just to have it torn up a year or two later if the CAB county school system moves forward with that plan. I know there's a lot of questions about what DA's doing, but I just want to make sure that that's on their radar, that if it could be designed in a way that's sensitive to that potential future um redevelopment of that property, I think that would be beneficial to us. And then the second thing on on I imagine a lot of the cost associated as as with is in a lot of these projects is rightway acquisition. A significant portion of the land that we're going to be constructing this on is the Cab County School System property. And I would love for us to reach out to the school system to see rather than acquiring that property if we can just get some sort of permanent easement uh rather than having to purchase a property from the school

system because it it is going to be for the very specific benefit of the students attending those schools. Um and uh that might be a way to save some significant money if if that could be done through um some sort of easement agreement rather than uh outright purchasing the rightway. So I just wanted to throw that out there as well. Okay. Well, so we are have been in contact with um the principles at both schools. Um we got letters of support for them for when we did the grant application. So they do know it's coming or are aware of the project. Um and we would, you know, have a public involvement session and where we would reach out. They would be a stakeholder on the corridor for sure. Um so we would definitely um have many touch points with them. Um, for the rideway acquisition, we would just need to be um follow all the federal requirements as far as um how we discuss rideway and and acquisition. Um but it's not um not off the table. So definitely we'll have discussions with them.

Yeah. And I'm glad we're talking with the schools. I know I've had a lot of conversations with parents um of in particular Chestnut uh that would very much be in favor of this. So I'm I'm looking forward to that.

Go ahead, Joe. I got a couple quick questions and I just going to have a just a perspective. This is the chicken and the egg as far as local funds commitment. A a swag for entire total local funds required for this whole project. I know right now we're looking at 640k commitment. Um, if you can't get that number tonight, just just I know we can't do it because we need to have, but still on the range of scope if if it's six, you know, just an idea. Okay. And and then and then obviously that's going to come primarily from probably our splash, right?

I'm not sure where the money would come from for construction. like we've identified for the preliminary engineering and the ride ofway um that we could use this you know that um those funds um but we would need to look at the budget um at that point when we know what the construction you know estimate would be and and is this next step getting us to a a swag then after this next step would be complete we get a little bit better number of the price

yeah so we this PFA gets signed um it goes to do that. It gets executed with them. Um I put out we put out an advertisement for a consultant. I would come for um to a recommended award to a consultant design firm. Um and then they begin preliminary um design at that point. We would um have a concept report and that's when I would see the first cost estimate. Um and then I would come back um after a public involvement meeting um occurred and present you the concept along with the public feedback

and at that stage do we also decide do we go it on our own or would we go for federal for the construction because I really want to get an idea for the total local funding that's committed for this project. So, the reason why it's just preliminary engineering and rideway right now because that is what we asked for to in the application because we didn't know what the construction cost was going to be. And so, until we have that dollar, then our plan is to request more federal funding for the construction once I get the concept approved.

Okay. So, um with that said, I fully support this project, but I'm probably going to be a no because it's about the process. I voted no on the Brookrun maintenance facility because it was about the process. I have asked we had a consolidated retreat this year, but we I would prefer us having a holistic approach and talk about all of our CIP projects together, rep prioritize rep prioritizing them and seeing where we should apply excess funding uh for that. If we were to push this, put this into our CIP, where is it in the priorities of of what the other projects are in our capital funding? In our 2024 council retreat, we said Mount Vernon was the number one priority. Um, and it's going to be probably 10 or 11 years before we get to the village with the side path at current 10 to 11 years. 2037 we may have a path connection to jet ferry to the village at the current funding stream. So here I'm looking at 640k of lost opportunity costs that could go into other CIP projects. So for me it's about the pro a process. Um I I do support the project but it's the process and I'd like to rather look at all of our CIP and prioritize those fundings as as needed. Thank you. So when this process comes to pick the build or developer whatever we call of this kind of thing can you instruct them to present to us I don't exactly know Eric but multiple cost options so for example we talked a little bit at our retreat if an 8 foot trail is going to cost X or an 8ft sidewalk is going to cost X and a 12oot is going to cost Y. I think I personally and maybe some other council people would like to understand the nexus is

so we could do a 10 and 12 because of the federal stuff. Okay, that's fine. But just um and you know the 12 foot is the is the city's preference. I understand and we talked about it at the retreat. We continue to talk about it, but we have to we've always said we have to have flexibility. Yes. And uh yeah, and we'll see. This is not an action item tonight. This is just a discussion. Discussion. Okay. So, you will see it again. Okay. Anybody have anything else? Thank you, Michelle. Thank you.

All right. Next, Michael Starling.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um tonight I'm here to discuss a memorandum of understanding between the development authority and the city um for an economic development sign program. Uh we've received requests in the past few years from economic development partners to uh to install placemaking and branding signs. So these would be banners on light poles. So very similar to the 2x4 um banners that uh that that are that we put up and some of our other partners put up for special events. Um, and these requests have followed the same basic pattern. Sort of think big picture. Uh, shop done Woody, you know, live, play, work, hear, stay for the nineto-5 kind of message. Um, to be successful, these banners need to stay up for a long period of time. You know, more than six, four weeks. It's a six months to a year because visitors, office workers, residents need to see these banners over and over and over again to get the to get the message. It's also very costly to take down and put up these banners over time. Uh staff believes that the development authority would make a good partner and best position to determine um which partners, which proposals, the best messages for these economic development sort of marketing signs. Um so we are requesting a one-year pilot project. The development authority would manage the project for the city. U we would operate it. we would come back in a year, tell you how we think it's done, look at the merits, and and move forward. Um, so I'd be happy to answer any questions uh about the program.

Anybody have questions? Oh, go ahead. My understanding kind of like with the art commission, we're basically just delegating review of something to another city. Perfect. That That's what I would say. It's it's it's another organization that specializes in this. you are giving up a bit of your power and decision- making to them for a short period of time. Sorry. Either group can say, you know what, we're sort of over this at the end of the year. We don't think it's working. We don't need to do it. Um so it's it's perfect analogy. I I think a pilot project is reasonable. Yeah, I think so. Consent.

I'd like to know the scope though. I mean, I'm trying to understand. I mean, there's signs everywhere, right? I mean, I'm just trying to figure I mean, the signs on this pole, we got banners. we got stuff going on. What's going to be the difference? Uh the difference it would be very specific. I mean we we've written theou very broadly. We think that the best way to go.

Um but the development authority would operate this really around our commercial areas and be very specific. We would not look to probably take this citywide. So imagine um PCID or discover done wanting to do a program in the perimeter market very specifically in the core about how great it is to to live here or work here or or stay here. Um so our thinking is we would get a proposal from one of them. The development authority would look at it decide okay this is something we want to go with. We like the messaging. We would also be required to go through community development to get it permitted. So they would still look at the size of the banners, where they're located, are they high enough, all of those things. We would then also let you know that this program is happening.

So it's economic development, but it's not focused at one specific business. No, no, we would definitely look for partners like discover done create done. Some of these groups, they're specifically looking to promote economic activity. One of the reasons the development authority works is that's their that's the goal of them, you know, to create jobs, economic activity. It would not be company uh company A or business A come shop here. It would be shop either Dunwy or the specific market. Again, I'm just wrapping my head around it and I'm thinking the bus uh advertise bus, you know, signs advertising. I don't need any more signs. I mean, just to me, I think

I'm just lying more signs. Uh we completely understand and that is not what we would be looking to do. And I know you said it was a pilot. Did you say this might have one year? It's a one year. Um and theou is written is is it's a one-year and it will automatically renew unless one of the the partners. So I would say that let's take out the automatic renewal at least for the first year. And so council will have to make a decision on how we feel about what we've seen

and how comfortable we are and then we can always amend it to be automatic in the future. But I think there's a sense of responsibility that it should be not automatic. But when we see all the signs that come in front of us now, we get full packages, we get full vetting, we see everything. Now we see absolutely nothing and we're giving it away for a year. So, I'm just trying to understand what we're getting and what we're giving away. Well, it's kind to me it's kind of like the art commission, but we don't we don't do very many signs really because most of the the only thing we do is when they're coming, I forget what it's called and I don't think anybody's here from community development. I don't think anybody's left, but like when Kingswood got new signs, the Kingswood's a good example,

but but that's not the kind of signs we're talking about, right? We're just talking about banners permanent full banner. So, let's not put this on consent. Let's just make it a business item and make sure community development is here next week. Is that okay, John? Yeah. Right. And I will I will change the one-year automatic renewal to just a one-year pilot. Okay. All right. Thank you.

Thank you. Go ahead. Um All right. Public comments. I think I saw a card come up. We've changed our system. Zack Humphre, approach the microphone and you'll have three minutes. Sir, uh, real quick, I just want to thank the Delmoody Preservation Trust for a wonderful lemonade days and uh, as well as Chief Carlson and uh, and the whole police crew. I don't think that there were any big incidences other than like some fights here and there. So, we love to hear that,

right? Um, but yeah, I love lemonade days and uh excited to keep that rolling in the future. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Um, city manager comments. Uh, no additional comments, mayor. We do not need an executive session.

Uh, council comments. Go ahead. I just want to maybe jump on what what Zach said and just um thank you know we we have a lot of nonprofits in this city that do a lot of nice events. Um done with your preservation trust is a great example. Create Dumby also did an AAPI event Sunday afternoon. Um so there are a lot of community groups that do a lot of nice things year round. And so I appreciate you bringing up Dumby Preservation Trust because that's kind of become a landmark um event in the city in the spring. And so, uh, I'm glad that they had mostly good weather and I think a pretty good event this year. So, thanks.

Speaking of part nonprofit partners, just want to let you know this Saturday, uh, I'm a member of the VFW and, um, give them a little space and grace as far as their technical savvy goes because I I'll just stereotype, but anyway, sorry about that. But, um, this Saturday they're doing a car show. Uh, it's a free It's at Delm Village. It's from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Um, silent auction, hot dogs, soft drinks. It's uh if you want to have your car in, it's $25. Otherwise, it's free entry and you can come in and see veterans. Say hello to 115 pound Great Pyrenees. Uh Josephine. Um the police department will be their local firefighters. Um and that that funds goes towards support the VFW. They support charities as well. So if you want to come out and join us, say hi. Thank you.

Um so Zach took what I was going to say. Um, thank you to the police department, um, and all the volunteers, including Zach. It DPT does a really good job of recruiting volunteers. Tons of high school students are earning their service hours. It's a great opportunity for them. And everyone seemed to be so happy. Like, you didn't even hear so many crying babies. And so, it was just a great community event. Um, proud of everybody that was involved and grateful. Um, and that is all I have. I need a motion to adjurnn. Move to adjurnn. Moved by Rob. Second.

Second by Stacy. Any no discussion? No comments. All in favor? Any opposed? Hearing none. That carries unanimously. We'll see you next time.