City Council - Special Meeting

I thought they could have since they are they may have already started. Maybe I just Yes, ma'am. Hey, good afternoon. How are you?

Well, how are you? sweater. This is something I need to repair. Maybe look in my closet and bring me the blue jacket, you know, with the dresses on. Absolutely. Yeah.

Well, on the left side where the dresses are at the top,

there's a blue jacket. Hey, I'm sorry. Hey, how you doing? All right, thanks. I had to comb my hair. Yeah.

What's up? Thank you.

Good evening and welcome to the city of Hampton Mayor City Council special call work session for April the 14th, 2026 at 5:30 held here in council's chamber at city hall, 17 East Main Street South Hampton, Georgia 3022 or oh 30228. I call this meeting to order. Uh, I need presentation and approval of this agenda for the special call work session for April the 14th. Need a motion to approve it. I make a motion to approve. Second.

I have a motion by council member Duchaine to approve the special call work session agenda and a second by council member Cheney. Discussion from the council. Discussion from the public. All in favor? I have I have a six z. One, two, three, four. Zoom. Oh, council member White Williams. I can't hear. Couldn't hear you. I Okay, I have a stick zero.

The public hearing was cancelled. So, we're going to move on to agenda item four, new business. consideration and action on the street improvement pavement signpost uh thermoplastic center stop and fog line. Uh city manager.

Thank you and good evening mayor and council and guests. Um you can click if you don't mind. That'd be awesome. You can give me the clicker. Um this is a project that's been around for quite some time with the city. have discussed with several of you about this as well. Um, this is a proposal to see if we could reallocate some funds. We did purchase the 16 acres of property. Um, it's my understanding that the intent, albeit un not formalized yet, is to proceed with potentially a new city hall. Um, so this has been on the books and splashed for the last three years to improve and to repair or to remodify the city hall, the current existing city hall. Um, the suggestion would be to potentially reallocate some of those funds for those allocated uses from the splast five and to potentially use those to proceed with um, some of the signage that I like to show up here that you all have all seen before. um different waypoints coming into the city. We can move past those relatively quickly just to give an idea. Um this will be available for anyone to review later on, but in the way points coming into the city kind of establish those as well as along Main Street and those are designated, but you also can find them on the actual handout to where they correlate with what's which signage would go where. There's kind of the size of the signage that would come in. And we'll show you more detail here in just a moment. That's some of the detail with back lick light back lit lighting. Um, go to the next one. Kind of see the size of the vehicle compared to the size of the sign. On the back of those signs, you have a location where you can put in um not banners, but actual inserts for the different events that the city does, such as a yellow pollen festival.

There's an example of that details picked up from Yes. And then you have additional signage out in front along Main Street for the train depot, city hall, and the police department, which will be coming up here shortly. Also signage and poles um along the avenues and thoroughares off of Main Street with um city hall markers, train depot markers, and historic location markers as well as the actual street names themselves.

Now, Glenn may expect those signs. If you see Glenn, may they establish and put those signs. Sorry. No, ma'am. Go ahead. Parking signs. So, the this is an unofficial this is a refer just a um asking for the city man the city council's approval for the city manager proceed with trying to get some to enter into the bidding process on that. if you so determine that you would like to reallocate those funds for this project. Thank you. Questions from council.

Madam May, I have comments, not questions. Okay. I'm not in favor of using reallocate funds. I would rather see us take this from fund balance. We have upcoming SPLAS elect votes that are coming now and There's enough in the public comment section on social media about how floss funds have been intermingled and mixed and not used for what they're supposed to be used for. And I just have an issue with using uh reallocating funds.

Yes, sir. And I'm I'm glad you brought that up. This this has been an informal I don't have any promises. There's nothing in writing. an informal conversation with um we've had conversations around the data centers and you were in the room with Miss Arborough the other day as well. Um the the it was floated to them and I haven't gotten anything back from her just yet, but she's been out of town to where it would be nice to put those as a addition to part of theou to where they might want to reimburse the city for this project as well. um not official but something if we took it from the from the general funds that might be something that we could do for sure or from the fund balance. Oh yes. I'm good. Yeah.

Do we have money already allocated for signage? We replacement signage. Um not necessarily this project itself. No. Okay. I'm sorry. I have a question. Yes, ma'am. Council member Brooks. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Um, is signage on the list of things that can be used for SPLS? Is that on the list? I know there's a list of items,

right? Um, it's they're typically put into a bucket for public safety. Um, signage typically can fall under public safety. Um it's not necessarily just way markers but as markers for where the cities are. So it has been used in the past for that. Not sure here but in other locations. Yes. Council. Um good afternoon. Good afternoon. Well I'm in favor of the of the projects. Um if the council wish to to to fund the project of which um areas or which where the money coming from is fine. So um is um Mr.

I know Mr. M mention you know prefer is do we really matters it's based on project be funded to get get to get this the project started. Yes sir. So, um, that's the purpose of this is just to have a referendum to do that and then we can we can modify and critique where you guys want to pull it from and you I think we could get a thorough report from Mr. Linux as well. If the best way to get it from what you mentioned earlier is fine with me if the best way that Mix Council Meeks mentioned is also fine with me as well. Yeah, Madame Mayor.

Yes. Uh, and in answer to uh, Councilwoman Brooks's question, the Splask 5 items do show 108,000 for gateway signage and branding. And then there are several other uh, ITB landscape arch,000. There's uh, the Elme money that I believe could be used for not landscape,

not signage. Okay. Uh, the Rosenwall Park mult multi-use trail. I don't know if some of that might be able to be used. Uh Cherry Street pedestrian improvements. I I realize some of these signs I don't have the picture that showed where the signs would be, but there's several funding sources in Splas 5. Uh other than taking it away from the city hall improvement, which has been designated, voted on, approved by the citizens, you know, that's that's just my issue.

Sure. Go ahead, Mr. In addition to that um I also um mention as well a part of the money I also need to love to um help this the finance department to fix those mess there we call this mold and so forth to be fixed as well and those those are things I'm looking for to be composed as well right and we've discussed that and I think that's in public works and grounds and that's that's in in the process of getting fixed as far as that leak and mold issue council member Duchaine

so You started off by saying something about the new city hall and then the improvements that so do we have funds already allocated like by you said started off with the purchase of the land was for the city hall but I thought we purchased it saying we weren't going to designate it for any use. So do we have funds that was already allocated for the new city hall? There are some allocations in splast for that purpose. Um I'm trying to remember the six six how much? 4.8 million in splash. Yeah.

Okay. So I have a question. Um on our current splash five up underneath the gateway signage design and branding phase one which is allocated at $108,534. I need to know how much money of that have we spent. It's still showing that it's remaining. So I want to know is it still remaining? I I believe that my my understanding was portion of that was done to create what you saw up there from that but I'm I don't have any receipts to show that for sure. So Mr. Forcip is right here.

We can we can find the answers to that. We just look at we have a spreadsheet that shows total spans of the year. Same thing with the ITB landscape arch and engineering design for gateway signage that we have $50,000 for that. What I'm trying to figure out is we're talking about reallocating $443,000 over to signage. Do we need that type of money in signage in is what I'm trying to figure out. That's that's the first thing. Um, Miss Wanda, can you tell me if do you know anything about this um these gateway signage designs and what we see and all that?

To date, if you're looking at the fiscal year budget 2026, there hasn't been any money spent on those items to date because they would have come through my office. Um, as far as the overall um, gateway down 20, if you'll recall that, we also engaged Pond, who did a a a landscape concept because you can't just put one of these little signs out on the corner and call it a day. It has to be contextualized as far as a setting goes, landscaping, hardscaping. And so that's why the the money, you know, is not going to make it for 100. Even if we have 150, that's not going to go a long way to make your gateway signage from 20 and Oak Street, unfortunately. But it is some money that we can get started depending on where you guys decide you want to start with that. But currently, what's been designed is that those monuments that u Mr. Becker just showed y'all, those have been designed by a landscape architect. So there's four years ago.

Yeah. This the design has been done four years ago. But I just wanted to let you know the construction drawings are done in sense that structural how you build it, the footings and things like that there that's done, but it's in no man's land. It's in outer space. It's not been designed by engineer to sight it to irrigate it to build it space.

Okay. So, because what I'm hearing is that we have quite a bit of moving parts to this sign placement and design kind of scape that we're trying to put together here in the city. This is just a portion of that design and and scape. So, are we going to get an entire uh because right now all I have is I guess we want to go out to bid for what? Like the building of the signs. The

Yes, ma'am. The fabrication and the building of the signs. And that's where I've got an informal quote for around 3.90 for those entire signs that you saw up there. I I like I said, it's informal. I don't know how valid it is or anything else. So it' have to go through the procurement process and come back before the mayor and council for approval on

Okay. So we're talking about fabrication and building of the signs in this moving of of funding. So I would like to see us have a totality of this project. If you're talking about landscape, streetscape, hardcape, as well as because if I fabricate these signs and they go to the warehouse and just sit there or you put them out on like you just said and stick a pole in it and we haven't done the rest of it, we're just going to look a hot mess and we It's similar to what was taken down on East Main Street. Those signs were not like for longevity as far as how they were made,

but they were all 20s. They were there and present, which is great,

but they were just assigned. And so the whole concept and at least how we we got here, and this is before Mr. Baker got here, right? So there's there was a lot that went into, you know, plan the whole corridor and make these signs something that um you know is our gateway and representation on these major highways. And as you guys can imagine, we we did this survey that we put out to the public at the time four years ago and had comment and people were very reactive what they liked and didn't like and so they moved forward with that. what was appealing. And then we also engaged the whole concept of how these things will look when you go by Mcdana Street, East Main Street, State Route 20, Oak Street, how they all talk together and how they sit in the world. And as we all know, when you get into citing things, you've got to get the engineers involved. We don't have engineering drawings for any of this.

Okay, Madam Mayor. Yes.

Uh just a question. I'm not trying to be difficult. Just want to make sure we're protected and doing uh not getting in or putting oursel in a awkward position. Uh if we recall, there's a lawsuit that was made against the city of Milton, $35 million for a design a planter that they put. Has that been resolved? And would we be placing ourselves in any position of liability with these? Because this was done, I believe, before that lawsuit took place, all of this design and everything. Are we putting ourselves in a are these edififices going to be real brick, real stone, and are we placing ourselves in a position of liability?

And that lawsuit, I'm not familiar. I know where the just was where they negotiated settlement on it. Um, and I'm not sure that they're at that location or that that finality point yet. Um, I do know that that takes into consideration where you have to have the DOT involved in those type of things and with the engineers and the type of materials on that. So, yes, that would be a consideration for us, of course. Thanks. and in and the the signing of the signs on the concept at least they're they're not on the public rideway which we've talked to the guys at Rosen Maine the entrance and they were willing to give us an easement or access you know to that corner the same thing with Henderson Farms as you're coming into the city back up on the hill they're willing to give us a signed easement too as well as on Mcdana Street so we weren't looking like you know we said we would coordinate all that to make sure that uh we even before Milton's lawsuit. That would be something that the city would be looking at.

And the developers at at Henderson Farms have also expressed interest in replicating this internally inside of that not at our expense at theirs. Madame Mayor,

yes. Um in additional to the um the engineers if we if the council decide to fund this projects and based on 20 um will it be um protected from read suppose someone want to run from um we're going to run our our water line that particular area will engineer make sure that it doesn't rebuild over again cost more money to I mean the the issue when you when you get into all that that's that's what's the value of engineer

designing it right is to make sure that those things are projected for the future um and to ensure that what's built can can stay and also if somebody you know has to move it or it's on them because we've established we own that piece and and etc. That's where our sign is. Um, you know, you guys know from some of the engineering costs, um, you can spend and we can spend a a chunk of this, even the 150 that we have for engineering. If you could spend, like I said, the concept is done for the landscaping and the pretty pictures, which we can show. Um, you could bring them, you can load them up for the the meeting, our next meeting, but you could, you know,

the concept was the concept cost us,

you know, that's right. You know, 12 to 15,000 just for the concept. And that that may be a low number, but for the actual design, um, you could spend $40 to $50,000 to ensure we take care of all those things. That's why you have a PE stamp, an LA stamp to ensure that all those things are on their professional license. Miss Wanda, um, you and Jeff, I I guess I I would like to know, so we're considering the fabrication of these signs at this time. Why are we not considering the next step, which would be the engineering of the design? Like I'm trying to figure out why did we get to

and this is that's part of the process of what we're doing. I mean that's in including the roadway improvements because part of that can be paid for with already money already allocated to just restripe and resurface reseal and just to change the aesthetics of that area but also I think in this it's we can't proceed with just building the signs and throwing them out there without doing the engineering as well. Madame Mayor, Council Member Brooks.

Yes. I think that our best course of action at this time is to allow staff to come back and give us a stepbystep guide of how we're going to get because I think the signage, the gateway signage is absolutely wonderful. I remember four years ago concepts and design and all of that. Here we are four years later and we still don't don't have gateway signs. So, I I think it would be a great idea for staff to come back and let us know funding details, how we're going to move forward with what you are requesting.

Okay. And I agree. I think that's uh got some notes down here that we'll come back and we'll review some of the possible funding sources for you as well as getting some pricing on the engineering and the rest of the the preceding parts before we do the fabrication, everything else. The the gist of tonight was to see if there's a will to move forward with that. So, if there is, then we will do so. Council member Desai, is there any sort of grant opportunities that we might be able to tap into to Well, they are, but they're far and few between and disappointingly low on a lot of these. So, we certainly will explore those. Council member, I hope last question is the 443 714 in addition to the 158 554.

The the verbiage was to be up to that amount depending on what the pricing would end up being. So it was a target area just kind of a parameter for us to work within to see if it's feasible. Three is the total amount that that would be optimal. Yes. Yes sir. Yes. Thank you. Um may want to mayor. Yes sir. Um I think the citizens have spoken many times you know signage to be done. Um, I remember when the sign was removed from 20 for a particular reason and we need to have this back. The citizen have to people have to know where to go, right?

I'm telling, you know, we we're not here just on just been sitting to make a move and get it done. Okay. And we'll bring this back at the next meeting with some of those questions answered. I'd like Okay. So, um, it seems as we have a consensus with the council that we'll get a step-by-step plan with that includes what we're going to be doing in the order in which we're going to be doing it and what our funding sources could possibly be for those particular steps. Yes, ma'am. All right. Perfect. Moving on to agenda item 4B, consideration action to approve replacement vehicles for the public works.

Yes, ma'am. This is a replacement vehicle that was crashed and totaled out by Travelers Insurance. Um they're still negotiating with All State. Um public works has um impressed upon me the importance of getting the vehicle up and running so they have another vehicle. Uh there's two vehicles on here that we have gotten the state pricing on. One being a Ford F-150 Super Crew and one being a Chevy Silverado uh 1500. Both of those have comparisons down there for you to look at. Um, my recommendation would be because of the savings with the Ford F-150 4x4 Super Crew, which could haul personnel, equipment, and and has a towing package, would be to proceed with the Ford for $49,500.

Thank you. Any questions for Madame Mayor? I have a question. Um, you mentioned you received quotes from the state, but in our agenda, we have quotes from Hardy Chevrolet and Allen Visual. Yes, ma'am. State contracts. Okay. State contracts. Yes, ma'am. Okay. From the independent dealerships that have the state contract pricing. Okay. So, Henry County, we don't have any state contracts with the dealerships here. Um, they're they're far and few between on those as far as which dealerships actually hold any state contracts on that. And these are the recognized dealerships that do. Okay. Because, you know, we want to spend our money in our own county. Yes, ma'am. We don't want to have to go out to county.

Sometimes with the police department, police vehicles with the demand, you have to go to North Georgia or North Florida. So, it depends on where they have them for availability and which actual dealerships participate in the state contract pricing. Okay. Thank you. Um, I'm gonna piggy back off Council Member Cheney because I just want to make sure I understand our Chevy dealership and our Ford dealership here in the county do not have state contracts. That is my understanding. When they get these pricings on them, they have to go through the ones that are designated for that. And they are not designated for that. Yeah. And the chief just confirmed that. I don't want to tell you definitively, but neither one of them are. So these are the two closest that are okay for Ford and Chevy. Okay.

How much are we expecting to get back from the uh insurance? They just now um started doing the assessment on the damage. I I have emails today. Yeah, it it will not be the full amount of this, but it will be probably threequarters of the way there. It was it wasn't a it's a it's a total loss on that other vehicle. When did this crash happen? November 17th. 25 25 m. Yes. C mix.

Seeing as the chief is here, is there any difference or preference that the police department might have any advantage of one over the other or are both satisfactory? Public works vehicles. Oh, it's public works. Yes, sir. Okay. Well, the one that was involved in a crash on 1941 at Wolie and Bridge Petty. Yes. And there was certainly a violent crash. And what was the vehicle that was? Was it a Ford or Chevrolet? Was it a Ford Chevrolet? All right. And well, I see Mr. West back there. I should ask him. I I think it's Mr. King's

Mr. King's prerogative. Okay. Is he here? Is there a advantage over either one or um I broke those down for you, sir. There are some differences and some pluses and minuses, but I was just personal preference of the department. I know it's like a $5,000 difference, and I just thought I'd ask, but I'm all for going with the cheaper one, Madame Mayor. Yes.

Um, at some point I would like to get a list of fleet vehicles that we have in public works. Uh these are two um how many trucks do we have in the department and if we don't replace this um does this prohibit us from doing our dayto-day?

Well, it certainly puts us a sty on that. I mean they have trucks allocated for different duties in different locations. Um some of the trucks that we have currently in service I know are stretching it. Um, one doesn't really have a front seat that's that's sittable. So, we're look I think they're looking to replace that front seat so they can extend the life a little bit, but you have a suggested life on some of those. And it it uh I don't think we have an excess of vehicles, but I will give you a full count on those. Okay. Thank you. Hi everyone. This is uh Council Member White Williams. U Mr. Baker.

Yes, ma'am. Have you, just to kind of piggyback off of what you just mentioned, have we identified any other vehicles in our public works department um work vehicles and not vehicles for the supervisors or directors to drive around with for uh actual workers that are out in the field every day? Have we identified any additional vehicles that may need to be replaced? Uh there is a replacement schedule at this time. I've not been notified of any other vehicles that are here. Replacement on that other than their cycled replacement based on mileage and repair costs is what we typically start looking at midyear.

Okay. And and do you know how close we are in that cycle to some of those um vehicles needing to be replaced? Uh I have not looked in detail at those, but uh normally you have a I believe there's one or two vehicles that you typically have each year on a replacement cycle. Um, some of those can be stretched out depending on budgetary constraints. So, but we'll we'll look into that and I'll get you guys a report on the count and the condition of each vehicle and the mileage. Madam, okay. Thank you. So, I I have a question. Um, first is is this so this vehicle is not budgeted?

The the vehicle was budgeted. It's a replacement on that off of the insurance payment. a wreck vehicle was budgeted. This this at one point or another it was budgeted. So, this is a replacement of a of a budgeted asset. So, yes, it's in the budget already. Not for this year, but it's a replacement off of an insurance payoff. Well, we're not going to get full replacement amount of money. No, ma'am. We're not. So, are we going to have to do a budget amendment is what I'm asking.

It's very possible. Yes. Um, let me go back to um the state contracts. Is did we I understand that this is state contract, but is there a reason why we didn't reach out to other dealerships outside of it not being state? We can certainly revisit that and go back and do it um and see if they wonder if they would give us a better price. I doubt it, but we can try. Well, we got a quote. Usually the uh these are usually a good the state prices are usually a good 5% to 10% below what your market value is.

So, I want to interject here because we just bought three replacement vehicles in 2024. One that the current the city manager is driving and two for public works. in addition to three vehicles, three trucks um for public works that we just did a budget amendment in 2025 for those vehicles that we bought before the budget was ever amended. So, I'm trying to figure out if there's a problem with the budget amendment because we just did it for um it may not may not have been the public works vehicles and Bo, you can correct me if I'm wrong, but we just did a budget amendment for three new vehicles third quarter of 2025.

Come on. That that is correct. So, I don't think that there's a problem with the budget amendment. We just was I was just asking in regards to if we would need a budget amendment because if this is a wreck vehicle, I don't see how it could have been in the budget. It's a wreck vehicle, so we're replacing. Let me clarify what I meant. When it was originally purchased, it was in a budget. I'm certain of that. Um, so as you have a crash on these, you try and do the replacement off the value of the monies or we can determine not to replace a vehicle and we can put the funds directly back into the general fund. It's an option for the whatever the political will of the council is. Yes. Right. Mayor, council member Dan.

So, do we have a fund that kind of we put into to in case of these things happening that there is money put aside that part of our maintenance programs to say that we're if something happens cuz how often do these vehicles have to get replaced for whichever accident? No. Several accidents we've seen to have had. Typically, you don't. It's going to be something based on what the replacement value of it is. And then you're doing an assessment to see if it's if whatever the amount that you get from the insurance company to see if it even matches if it'd be feasible to buy another one. If there's a need for the purchase of another vehicle, so you don't normally budget for those that

I'm sorry, Council Member Brooks, give me one second. Council member White, would you? I simply wanted to ask, could you give me the primary use of those two vehic vehicles that you're seeking to replace? What were they used for? Was it the supervisors or uh this is actually there's only one vehicle that's Wait, it's got vehicles so I didn't know. Go. Um No, ma'am. It's just one vehicle replacement and those are it's allocated over to uh utilities and I'm I would wait till he gets in. Do you remember who I It was It was the superintendent's vehicle in the public works side is whose vehicle

it was assigned to when the accident happened. I'm sorry, Miss Brooks. When the accident happened, it was assigned to the superintendent of the street department on the public works side. Thank you, Council Member White Williams. Um, Chief Turner, the vehicles that we um the two new Taho for public works as well as the city manager Tahoe, did we purchase those vehicles from any dealership within the county or did we have to go to another county uh state approved um vehicle dealership? I'm sorry.

We did them under state contract. Um I believe it was Thornton is one of them. both were outside the county because the state contract and we at the police department we have to replace a lot of vehicles. So very familiar. We've we've done gone down the path and asked to try to give the business inside the county. It's usually Mr. Baker said 5%. What we saw last year was like 15% higher not under state contract because they've already they've already negotiated it to where they're selling at a wholesale rate to all the anybody who qualifies under the state contract. So, we did have to go outside for our ones for those three that you're talking about, but also the two police vehicles last year.

Okay. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

And and if I could, we do have a point on comparison of police department. We had a wreck vehicle that was it covered about 65%. And we did the same thing um in 2024. We came before the council. There was a net difference of about $17,000 um as what and then we end up we didn't have to do a budget amendment. And the reason we didn't it was in within the same department and since we were under 17,000 we were just able to do a line item transfer. So a budget amendment may not be necessary depending on public works of where they are at the end. It was if there we were under budget so we weren't didn't have to do that but that was with the understanding when the council approved we may had to come may have to come back and and get that budget amendment.

Thank you. All right. So I I believe it is the will um what I'm hearing from the council that we would like to go ahead and see about purchasing another vehicle. I mean, they got to have a vehicle. Yeah. Gotta have a gota have a vehicle if that is the consensus of council. Yep. For them to I'm in agreement to move forward. Okay.

Okay. All right. Moving on to agenda item 45A. Council discussion regarding the appointment of city council members to serve as council liaison or representative of the city of Hampton board authorities and committees. This item will include consideration and appointment necessary to ensure each body is properly staffed, supported, and align with the city council's policy, direction, and governance of the responsibilities. I believe council member White Williams put um wanted this on the agenda or council member Desine. Well, this was this was an item that excuse me was on the um January council meeting that we kept kicking down the road. Um so I told the clerk we just need I think we need to just go ahead and have this discussion so that we can go ahead and ex this off the list.

Okay. What is the discussion that you would like to have in regards to it? So the discussion would be based on I think we identified several boards um that uh each council member could serve on um and what just determining which boards they would like to serve on. I think they're committees right

and or committees or as the council liaison. Let me say that which committees or boards they would serve on as the council liaison. This was kind of brought up, I guess, from council member me um Mitchell saying previously when he was on council that there was this, you know, administrative and you know, I mean that that's item B. Oh, so which one? 5B. This is a probably pull your mic closer. So I believe council member Brooks, are you there? Yes. Yes. Um, do you remember the list um that we had identified? Okay, Madame Mayor, I'm sorry.

This has been some years ago back years ago. Okay. It it is a committee that council members can serve on. It could be youth council. It could be electric utilities. And uh the mayor pretty much primarily would make those appointments. That's the committee that you're speaking of. You're not speaking of the committees that such as HDA, DDA. So, do you remember

I I want everybody to be clear. Agenda item 5A is talking about HDA, DDA, um you are a uh HHPC, uh all of those those boards, authorities, those item 5B is talking about what council member Brooks is talking about in regards to the appointment of the mayors for committees. if it was a finance administration, if it was community development, those are on on 5B. So, we're talking about 5A now in regards to H HDA, DDH, HH HPC. Um,

I I'm trying to figure out I didn't put this on the agenda, so I'm not exactly sure what you guys want to cover on it. Well, I think it was when it was being discussed in the session was regarding whether there was going to be a formal process like an application or some sort of a process. I think that was the discussion. Okay. That was getting kicked down the the road to come to say,

you know, what did we want the process for these boards to be? Whether it was we wanted a formal application and people apply and we're picking from those applications or is it that each person is just nominating someone and that's their nomine like what is it that we're doing? Madame Mayor.

Yes, Council Member Brooks. Pretty much what the clerk has put here, it it pretty much explains exactly what the discussion should be about expired terms on our HDA, DDA, um, boards, committees, authorities. So, I I think it's a matter of us just looking at the list and determining if some of the members that are listed, if their terms have expired, so we can make sure that we have no vacancies. So that is that is what we came up with. But because I didn't add anything I didn't add this item,

I I'm not I just want to make sure that we're covering all of the information that wants that everyone wants to share in this workshop in regards to what we're covering. So yes, of course, uh the bylaws and the governing documents of ordinance covers the how you get the HDA members uh rather by appointment with an up and down vote. um if each council member and and that's not just HDA but DDA um the HHPC all of them uh have their governing documents that already tell us how we do this so I'm saying are we changing something about that are we adding something to it I think it's all about vacancies are we full do we have any vacancies on the HDA

so DDA

so the HDA A everyone's term has expired. If they are currently serving, they're serving just continuation. So, uh they're in the middle of their term, but it was continuation. They weren't reappointed. So, everybody on the HDA needs to be reappointed and or replaced. So, I believe we have on the agenda for tonight some of um some of the council members had people that they wanted to recommend. it will come before the council. It will go to an up and down vote for each one of those members and they'll be on the HDA. Uh if you if you did not have someone of course you know we can always just if you guys because right now I'm showing there's five five or six seven I have to I I'm sorry I'm not

um people that was on the agenda for tonight to be uh voted on up or down. I think the only two that I don't have anyone to um appoint tonight and I think Kesha White Williams as well. I think everybody else have recommended someone.

Okay. I think there was also a question that um Mr. Mitchell had brought up in the session about the up and down voting in regards to your appointment that it he didn't feel that that is the process that is should be used that it should be if that's your appointment that's your appointment and it shouldn't go to a up and down vote. So all HDA DDA go to an up and down vote. We send in the names they go on the list we vote them up and down. each council member raise their hand and vote those individ the only uh ordinance that I have seen and um Mr. Denmark is here he can he can tell me uh that I've seen that actually gives that authority to a individual council member to appoint a person specifically is HHPC am I accurate Mr. Denmark.

I believe that's after. Okay. Okay. Any other questions? Any other comments about this so we know how we're doing things and which way we're going?

So, yes. So, um I kind of believe we diluted 5A and 5B together and this discussion that we just had. um which is fine, but my recollection for item 5A was that we were going to look at the boards such as there was a um planning and zoning, there was a uh finance, there was a public safety, there were a couple other boards and I can't um seem to put my hand on my finger on those those other boards that I'm referring to that council could serve on or not boards but rather committees that council could serve on. So, um,

we're going to go to that agenda item next, Council Member White Williams. That's 5B. So, it sounds like 5 A and 5B should have been combined cuz we're we're well, no meshing. So, sounds as if we're meshing them together a little bit. So, so no 5A actually is about our authorities, our boards um that serve for the the city and they have their own bylaws, their own rules and all of all of those things.

5B are actually appointed uh committees that the mayor can make if there's an issue that arise that the mayor would like to see more study done on. if there's anything that um you would like to see oversight, the mayor would like to see oversight on that, those are those committees. And so what you're talking about, like we used to have a an uh an administrative and finance committee, we used to have a community development committee. We used to have a parks and recreation committee, all of those different committees, and it was left up to the mayor to actually seat people in those committees and to serve on those particular committees. At this point in time, I've chosen not to um have any of the or I haven't appointed anybody to any of those committees at that time. At this time, um I am thinking about at least one of those committees so that we can have uh better oversight on some things, but um at this time I have not um decided to actually appoint to that committee

to those committees. Okay, that's it for me.

Okay, any further discussion? All right, moving on to agenda item 5C. We're going to ask Miss Kinder Kendra Sutherland if she would come forward. The mayor may create committees of members of council to study any issue before the council. Any such committee may make recommendation to the city council, but no committee shall be empowered to make any fi final decision on any matter before it is for consideration. In addition to council members, committees may include other city official, staff, citizens at large. That that is uh the mayor shall serve as an exact ex official member of all committees.

Yes. So So we just have not we we've chosen not to do that do those committees at this time. Miss Melissa, did you have anything else you want to add? All right, moving on to Miss Sutherland. Yes. Hi, Miss Southerntherland.

Hello. Uh, good evening, Madame Mayor and Council. Um, Kendra Sutherland, uh, from 29 East Main Street South. Um, I come before you tonight regarding resolution 202612, uh, regarding the logo, um, to share some community feedback on the city branding that was voted in one year ago. Um, Michelle, is it possible to get the is it possible to put the presentation on is

Oh, okay. Got it. Perfect. Okay. Um, and so, you know, while community input was sought in 2023, um, I believe no community input was solicited before this round of branding was approved. Um, feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Um, and so while you know this may seem trivial, some are saying, "Oh my gosh, we're talking about the logo again." Um, you know, our city has and will spend tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars on the implementation of this logo into architectural features like we were hearing about just a moment ago, wayfinding signage, street signage, uniforms, business cards, digital assets, digital asset updates, car wraps, patches, letterheads, printed materials, flyer marketing collateral, swag, you know, and much more. So, it's one logo with a lot of financial impacts. And so, it it seems fair to share some of the public opinion that um on the current branding before we commit to ratifying it in such an indelible way. Um so, I'm really happy that this resolution was raised to revisit the branding. Thank you so much um for for doing so. Um, and be before you tonight, I'm going to present some feedback. Um, and I'm relying on forums in which the public feedback was solicited and shared on Facebook um, in the what's happening in Hampton private page since there was really no other feedback uh, solicited by the city. So, it's really all I had to go on. Um, and so if you're willing to hear this in feedback and let it influence our branding, I'm confident that we can come up with a more representative and enduring brand than the current one because I think it will truly reflect uh most more of the

community input. So what you see here is um we actually had several posts. There's 2,000 members in the what's happening in Hampton page. Um and there was a total of 240 comments on the branding and logo. Um this was you know initiated by different people who brought it up and it generated quite a lot of feedback. So February 7th 29 comments 54 comments on March 13th. So quite a lot of engagement and overwhelmingly the sentiment after I reviewed all of this and I'm happy to share the data with you um if you're interested was negative. So most of the community input was not in favor of the current branding and there was 8.6% that was positive. Um and I think this is important to um you know respond to and and and consider in the adoption of this branding. So if we go to the next slide um what why was it negative? You know what were some of the issues that people raised? So overwhelmingly it was the color that a lot of people um commented negatively on. Um some said multiple reasons. Um and then others said no public input and then some said it's just not Hampton. Um so within the color feedback it was stated in so many ways either not appropriate and I give the numbers of the counts of those comments. Um whether it was not appropriate or not Hampton, not professional or too effeminate. those were the themes um or the the kind of topics that the the feedback fell into. Um and then multiple reasons it was in general they just

seemed to feel it was not appropriate. Um and then no public input and then under that also didn't like the color. So this is some of the feedback. Um, and just for context, um, these are some logos that we can see ours positioned against. Um, I think just in kind of looking at it, you can see, uh, there's just quite a lot of richness and depth that can go into a logo to make it a timeless and, um, enduring, uh, emblem for our city. Um and just to reflect on the findings um in the two 2023 survey that was that was done for our city um for by the branding agency. Um, the top results of the favorite Hampton experience uh descriptors that people said were historic, small town, charming, neighborly, friendly, downto-earth, casual, laid-back, quiet, and peaceful. But I feel that the color and the logo that we have chosen visually doesn't quite reflect that. Um, as you can see, here's it positioned with multiple other cities in our region, um, and across the state. And then, as you can see, our logo tends to fall more in a family with these brands that we're all pretty familiar with, you know, with the color. Um, and I think that's important to not ignore this. And this is not, you know, to throw anyone under the bus, like I've been in design, uh, school before, you know, and there's things we can just miss by, you know, picking something. And it's it's just so awesome when someone can point it out because it's like, "Wow, I didn't even see that and then you just see it in a new way and it can help us avoid um you know what I think could be a mistake." So you can

see other brands that share some of the vernacular that we chose and I don't know that it really reflects those survey results. Um one citizen comment said, you know, and I didn't I found this interesting because they said the new magenta Hampton logo sponsored by T-Mobile. So, they just called that out on their own. And it's interesting because I'll I'll be honest, some of the the citizens that commented, we may not all agree on some things, but this seemed to be a bit of a unifying topic that many seem to align on who usually don't agree. So, I found that interesting, just a personal take on it. Um, but as you can see, color is so important. Um, color, you know, conveys mood, emotion, and ways that it can be used and that that make it appropriate for certain brands. Um, and this is just a mood board for the color pink. You know, it's not quite the same pink or magenta that we have. And I I have nothing against pink, you know, I love pink wearing it tonight. Um, but yeah, I think it's not about personal preference. It's about what is right for the city and what will endure over time. Um, so but beyond the logo itself, I think it's important to look at the process also that was used to get us to this point with this current logo. So the process of developing this branding was done, you know, as far as I can tell without public input. Um, nor really a structured RFP pro approach to solicit a branding agency. Um, you know, for context, you can see M City of Mapleton's RFP is online right now. Um, and I don't know if we did an exhaustive process for selecting the first branding agency or the second. Um, and this seems to be one of the reasons why maybe we are where we are. Um, with a logo that doesn't seem to appeal to the majority of people. Um, and as you can see, I

found it really interesting just the level of detail that they requested in just the RFP to have the agencies provide full cover letter um ways that they're going to handle the research, the discovery, and then they would evaluate those different proposals to select the best one. Um, and I don't I did not see that certainly not for the second round of this branding proposal that we went through. Um, and so like I know in this last round, uh, I do know things were much less structured and transparent as far as I could tell because at the time the branding was being evaluated, I was on the Hampton Downtown Business Alliance when I first learned that the city was looking into uh, updating its branding. And I immediately reached out to one of the lead commercial architects in the region, Smith Haynes, um, award-winning, and I asked him for a recommendation for a local branding agency. And without hesitation, he recommended Proper. Um, and when I mentioned the project to Proper, they were so eager to participate, they met with Kenda and Amanda and explained they were more than willing willing to work with our budget and because they were passionate about small towns of Georgia. And we held two meetings with Main Street and were told that budget discussions were being held over the coming weeks and then nothing. Nobody got back to them. Nobody got back to, you know, me or anything. I had to ask what's going on and neither Main Street nor the city ever followed up with them or asked for a quote. Um, a few months later, the current logo design was presented and used on marketing materials immediately. Um, so the businesses were told that this was the branding and that the downtown business alliance would have to adhere to them. Um, so not only were the businesses and citizens not solicited for input on the final designs to my knowledge, but the evaluation and selection of the agency was seems to be

unilaterally decided without due diligence or soliciting of proposals from three separate firms to ensure an unbiased and fair selection process. So there was no disclosure of what metrics led to the selection of the Griffinbased firm. Um and I recently reached out to Proper and asked for their professional insights on the current branding. Um I'll present their preliminary feedback which uh they provided free of charge and they offered this because small towns and small culture is something they are very passionate about and the importance of lifting up these smaller towns as unique places is something they see missed far too often. So, they noted some unique aspects about Hampton that set us apart. Um, Hampton retains more of a rural southern charm while still being located close enough to the Atlanta metro. Um, from the preliminary research, the gap in us thriving in their opinion is not economic. It's about visibility and placemaking and civic identity. All of this is key in branding and branding is key in that. a focused investment in one to two differentiators they thought could unlock disproportionate growth from our neighbors not following uh the typical growth playbook that we've been doing bringing data centers and maximizing subdivision housing

y 10 minutes

okay I'm wrapping up okay they noted that Hampton's advantage is rare and real Hampton is starting from a natural place of strength um and its residents appreciate this pace of life. As we've seen from the survey results, it's rooted in community. They shared um that the playbook is not to chase what other towns have. It's to build on what Hampton already is, a place where strong families have already chosen. And this is really in line with the survey results of 2023. Um so I'll show you what they shared. Um some important metrics and things to look for in a good logo. I won't belabor those. They shared some other comparable, you know, potential logos that are used for cities. And then they also shared just an evaluation of our current logo compared to the previous one and where they see kind of the strengths and and weaknesses. Um, I think something to note is just like they didn't really see a meaningful or distinctive aspect to that logo that we have currently chosen and it's not really timeless or uh like over trendy. So in conclusion, you know, personally, I've shared some feedback. I've shared some uh metrics. I personally cannot overstate my disappointment with the proposed new logo. Um but my goal in presenting today is that I hope we can integrate the feedback from our citizens and consider working with proper or going to the previous firm to craft a logo that reflects all of our aspirations for Hampton. Some may say this will slow the city's progress, but speed is irrelevant if you're going in the wrong direction. Um, our logo has the potential to last 50 or more years and uh, so it really is important. Um, I'll just wrap up with a comment that a person wrote that I found really um, informative. Many people feel like there wasn't enough communication or opportunity for broader input before decisions were made. No solution will make everyone happy, but if we approach it with respect, openness, and a willingness to compromise, we can find

something that honors the history while also bringing the community together. So, let's get this right so we can move on. Thank you, Miss Southern. Any comments or questions from the council? Yes. Um um Ken, I'm very thankful for that. Um you comment. I did a survey. 835 people have disliked the logo. Yep. I sent a 1500 survey. 835 people dislike it. Mhm. And um I believe the council will look into it and see what they get to make some changes. Thank you.

Any further comments from the council? I think this is something like Miss Brook said that we should go back and consider and maybe get the citizens involved and you know kind of go back to the drawing board and see what we could come up with if there's so many people that have displeased with the logo they have to live here too. Any other

I am I'm in agreement with uh Council Member Mitchell and Councilwoman Duchan. We need to go back to the drawing board to get input um and maybe come up with a logo that is a little bit more modern and not too feminine. So that's my input. All right. Any other comments from the council? Council member Brooks.

Yes, Madame Mayor. We've heard comments from three members of the council. Um, what will be the next step? Would the city manager be directed to add it to the agenda for next steps or we just make our comments and that's it? So, I I would recommend that it definitely be put on the agenda for our retreat coming up. Um, so we can go ahead and get started with with that at that point in time. Um, I will say thank you, Miss Sutherland, for your uh input for your research. Um, the 240 comments that was made, I'm not exactly sure. I didn't see how many people. I understand it was comments, but I didn't see how many people it were that actually commented those 240.

I have the exact number, but it was around 150. It was there were repeat people, so I made sure not to consider their comments twice. That's why it was less numbers. the exact numbers. All right, ma. M madame mayor, I'm sorry. One more. When you finish, council member Brooks. Okay. Is it possible to have this added to um regular session agenda? Yes, it will be. Okay. Yes, it'll be on both. We'll we'll get started at the retreat and we'll have it at the next council meeting in May. Yes.

Anybody else? All right. Seeing that is the last item on our agenda. Uh item six which is adjournment for this work session. All in favor? Do we need to do we need to say a second? Do you have to get a motion? I'm sorry. I need a a motion to adjurnn. I make a motion to adjurnn. Second. I have a motion by coun council member Desaine and a second by council member White Williams to adjurnn. All in favor? I 6.

If you guys can give me a moment. I need a bathroom break. Thank you. ain't nobody in.