City Commission - Regular Meeting

July 13th meeting of the Rome City Commission. We're glad to have everybody here and we begin every meeting with an invocation and a pledge to our flag and tonight I'm going to call on Elena Beeman to lead us.

So before we go into prayer I want to say that every community has champions and when we lose champions of our community I always like to honor And this weekend, we lost a champion, Carlos Spivey, who gave his heart and soul to this community. So as we stand here before you today, as we go into prayer, not only do I want to cover him, but I want to cover all the champions in our community. So will you bow your heads with me? The gracious Heavenly Father, we know you're in these chambers. We feel you in this room. Lord, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for the chosen, for the chosen servants that stand before you, Lord. the divine nine, but the most gracious 13. Lord, I ask that you enter each and every one of our hearts, our minds, our decision-making. Lord, I ask that you know that we are here to serve your people, that you allowed us the grace and the mercy to be able to make decisions to move this community, to move hearts in this community, and to make a difference in this community. Lord, this divine nine that you put together Touch our hearts, our minds, and our spirits for only your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, Commissioner Beaman.

Mr. Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Sir, Mayor Bojo? Here. Commissioner Robinson? Here. Brock? Here. Cochran? Here. Beaman? Here. Fisher?

Here.

Hickson?

Here.

Collins? Here. McDaniel? Here.

Everyone should have received a copy of the minutes that were sent out. Are there any corrections, additions, subtractions, whatever to the minutes? then we will accept them as written. We have one proclamation tonight, and I'm going to get the privilege myself to read this proclamation, and it deals with the Exchange Club. So if

We know that's a chore.

This is a city of Rome. Floyd County are both in on this population. And it reads, whereas the Exchange Club of Rome, chartered in 1936, has faithfully served our community for 90 years and continues to serve the community under its motto, unity for service. And whereas the Exchange Club of Rome promotes patriotism through Americanism programs that foster pride in our nation, respect for the flag, and appreciation of our freedoms, and whereas the Exchange Club of Rome strengthens our community by supporting local nonprofits, community improvements, and events that enhance the quality of life, and whereas the Exchange Club of Rome invests in America's youth by sponsoring programs and activities that encourage and support the next generation, and whereas the Exchange Club of Rome is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of our children, families, and the community through its prevention of child abuse initiatives. And in 1991, through collaboration with the public and private agencies, established the Exchange Club Family Resource Center, which continues to provide vital education, resources, and support services to families throughout Rome and Floyd County. Whereas the Exchange Club of Rome is recognized for its continued effort to serve and uphold the core values of family, community, and country. Now therefore, it be proclaimed that the Rome City Commission, the Floyd County Board of Commissioners, do hereby express our appreciation to the Rome Exchange Club for their dedicated support, continued effort to promote Americanism, community service, youth programs, and the prevention of child abuse. Thank you, sir. You're not getting this. No. I think tomorrow night at the Floyd County Board of Commissioners, they will present it to you also. But congratulations. 90 years is a long time, even older than Craig McDaniel. But anyway, this is awesome. Thank you.

On behalf of the Exchange Club, we just want to tell you thank you. This is a very big honor. We are very excited to be here and be a part of this. We enjoy what we do and what we do is do our best to make sure that our community is one of the best places it can be. And your group you've got right here is a real core group. And these folks work tirelessly all the time to make sure the Exchange Club looks good and that our community looks good. So we thank you guys very, very much for this honor.

Hey, Rob, I just wanted to say one thing. I'm a previous Exchange Ike. Only thing they'd ever let me do is be in charge of the cheerleading stuff and the Miss Rome stuff. For some reason, they stuck me with that hard job.

I can't do anything with it.

Thank all you for all you do.

And I would like to say that I appreciate all the work and the time that you put in when you touch people who can't actually afford to actually come to the fair and how you... make them champions to work hard to be able to receive the gifts that y'all give, like those passes and unlimited rides. That meant a lot to the people in underserved communities to be able to know that there are people out there that have hearts for them. So thank y'all for all the stuff that y'all do.

I, too, am a member, and I just want to say thank y'all for all that you do. And I get told a lot when I did go to the meetings, Bill, you cannot go back through that line a second time. The food is really good.

As you can tell by looking, he didn't listen. Thank you again. We have no special recognitions tonight other than the Exchange Club, no public comments regarding agenda items, no resolutions, nothing on first reading. Before we go to second readings, if you all just came for that, feel free to leave. If you want to stay for the meeting, we would love to have you. We don't get this many people. On second reading, we have an ordinance that Ms. Fisher will read.

This ordinance is to abandon, close, and vacate for public street alley purposes a portion of East 19th Street, a portion of East 20th Street, a portion of Ellis Street, a portion of Farley Street, a portion of a track labeled a street running between East 19th Street and East 20th Street, and a portion of a track labeled alley running between a street shown as 6th Avenue and East 20th Street. What this basically does is these streets will be permanently closed because they don't actually exist, and it's rectifying where they're on this plat, but they don't actually exist for the GIS map. So it's more of a correction. I would like to make a motion that we approve this ordinance.

Second. Okay, we've got a motion and a second. Any discussion?

Yes. I think in caucus it was talked about, the fact that we have had some complaints dealing with the noise over there. And I know that this here is a by-right situation, but if I could maybe ask, and only ask, to be allowed to ask that only if he could possibly extend his buffer zone or at least improve on it to help knock down the noise that gets to the, is that all right to put as part of the motion?

It's just an ask. Just to ask him to add a buffer?

Yes, just part of the language, that's all.

I think when we discussed that, we said that we would take this under consideration, and then we would ask code enforcement to check to make sure they were within the noise limits of that area, and if not, let code enforcement advise them what they needed to do.

Would it just be an ask, Mr. Mayor, All I'm basically doing is getting it on record that we made the ask. It's nothing that he could tell us, you know, no, that's not going to happen. And I'm just trying to make it official part of the motion, if the commission accepts that. Is there something wrong with that, Mr. Attorney?

Yeah, I thought the action to take with the buffer that the nearby residents probably would like to have because of the noise would be handled through code enforcement. And then there could be a conversation about increasing the buffer. But the ordinance is just for, as I read to you, closing and vacating those public streets on the plot.

I have to agree with Mr. Mayor. That's what he's saying. And yourself as well. Maybe we can get it accomplished that way. It's not a problem.

The question that I have is, is there anybody here that is affected by that that would be here to ask for that? And there's not. So I'll say there's not. I don't think there is. So that's not really part of our ordinance. I think that's just a pass along to code enforcement. Let them handle it.

So the ordinance is to close portions of the streets, East 19th and East 20th Street. That's what the ordinance is about. Any more questions? Mr. Clerk, call the roll.

Wait, did we have a second? Yes, we did.

Thank you.

Commissioner Robinson.

Yes. To close it? Yes. Yes.

Brock? Yes. Cochran? Yes. Beeman? Yes. Fisher? Yes. Ixson? No. Collins? No. McDaniel?

Yes. Got it. Okay. Let me make my note here and we'll move on. All right. Second part of our second reading. is a Downtown Public Consumption Ordinance. We heard down in caucus about the new outlay that they want to expand it, and they showed the area map. Is that what's coming up here on the board? I can sure put that up. Okay. Joe, you wanted to speak to that?

Yes, sir. As you know, public consumption is currently allowed in downtown Rome three days per week, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. under certain conditions. Those conditions are, among other things, that if this alcohol is consumed on the streets inside the delineated area, it has to be product that is bought from a pouring establishment within the delineated area. Then it can be carried on the streets in the proper container during those allowed days. And the proposal that's before you tonight is to do two things. It's primarily to expand the number of days which public consumption can take place from three days, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, to seven days, including those same hours, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. The second part of the ordinance is to alter the downtown area. and that is the area within the red outline. Primarily, the amendment regarding the map that's before you tonight is in the upper right-hand corner going up West 1st Street and West 2nd Street with the intention of including the Hampton Inn and the Days Inn hotels, making them part of the downtown area in regards to public consumption. That's generally what's before you, expanding the days and altering the map.

Need a motion. On the recommendation from DDA board and support from ACC, I'll make a motion.

I'll second.

I'll second.

We got a motion to second. Any discussion?

Yes, I would like to start the discussion. Number one, I talked about in caucus that I disagree with the extension expanding of the amphitheater over there by the library. I feel like that it is subjected to lots of illegal and unwanted activity. I don't think the amphitheater was built for that, and we're exposing children to alcoholic consumption and families while they're participating in utilizing the library. And number two, I have an issue with people, and not just anybody that's just drinking, because if you drink, that's your choice, especially if you drink responsibly. But our children now, they become what they see. And if all they see is people walking down Broad Street having a good time because they got a drink in their hand, they're sending out the wrong message. So I am totally anti-expansion or even considering this. I feel like we need to leave it the way it is because right now I don't feel like it's being enforced because this past weekend I talked about how I saw more people pulling alcohol out of their trunks. They had more homemade bars than I think we had downtown. And I disagree with the fact that we need seven days of drinking when we can't control the three days of drinking that we have. Who's going to enforce it? Who's enforcing it now? And then we went to Savannah. And when I went to Savannah, I saw homeless people drinking and couldn't even stand up with alcohol in their hands on public streets. And I saw the police come up to them and tell them that if you can't keep the alcohol in the cup, you're going to have to pour it out. What kind of message was that, Cindy? That concludes my comments.

The only comment I have is I'm an old-fashioned guy, and Sunday is very reverent to me, and I think that that's a day that doesn't have to be intermingled with alcohol consumption. You know, that's just who I am. That's the way I was raised. And I just think that... You know, I'm not opposed to expanding the area somewhat. I don't see the benefit of bringing the hotels into it, but that's just me. It just widens the police coverage. And so, as written, I'm opposed to it, but I would be in favor of a somewhat changed proposal, but all I have to say.

Can I address a couple of those things? Yes. Just from a DDA board standpoint. So... The Sunday issue, I think, probably has more to do with weekend events. Let's say it's a tournament, whether it's softball, baseball, tennis tournament. If you end up with a rainout or some issue and you get a holdover, those folks are in town. So that probably, the Sunday issue, I'm a little bit familiar with downtown. I walk down there occasionally. I would say that And we've had this from the police. This has not been an issue. This is really a non-issue. The main thing that we want to be able to provide, if we're bringing people from these other communities that they're used to being able to do this and the communities that they're coming from or other places that they go to and participate in, in a lot of cases, these tournaments and that kind of thing, we're just trying to provide the same opportunity here that they're used to seeing. places to the expansion to the hotels I would much prefer somebody walking back to the hotel as opposed to feeling like they need to drive downtown not everybody thinks the way we think here that if you're not parked on the block that you're going to you can't go there a lot of people come from a lot of places that walking four or five blocks is just not uncommon so Just that is from the feedback from DDA just to address those two issues. Thank you.

Anybody to my right? As I said when we discussed it down in caucus, we're 16 officers short, and we have ordinances now that we have difficulty enforcing. We have a smoking ordinance, and you can go downtown and see people smoking. And we have people drinking downtown. And I know tourism is important, but the people that live here are more important than the people who come here. And those of us who sit on the Public Safety Committee have heard that we have a gang problem in the community. and our law enforcement officers, our own police department. I think they're overtaxed right now. We have some crime issues. Officers, we have a great Rome City Police Department, and they're doing the best they can, but we don't have enough resources for us to keep adding things on top of what they already have to deal with. Commissioner Beaman made a great point about our youth. We have a lot of people. We're a live, work, and play community. We want our young people downtown. I don't think it sets a good example for us to have our young people downtown with a focus on alcohol. So I'm opposed to this. I'm especially opposed to extending the number of days and I don't like the idea of expanding the area. Anyone else?

To my right. Just to address the police, the police presented at both DDA, they presented at Caucus. I think this has been in place three years, the existing, is that correct? And as far as I know, and as far as they know, there have been no

instance no citations thing and I know everybody's ready to go Commissioner Fisher and I said in a thing on I think it was on Sunday afternoon