City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you for joining us live for the City of South Fulton City Council Meeting. We are proud to introduce the leadership entrusted with guiding our city forward. Mayor Carmelita Gomes. District One Councilwoman, Dr. Catherine Rao. District Two Councilman, Aaron V. Johnson. District Four Councilman, J.C. Sebastian. Mayor Pro Tem, Keosha B. Bell. District 6 Councilwoman, Natasha Williams Brown. District 7 Councilwoman Linda Becker Pritchett. Supporting the work of this body in the operations of our city are City Clerk Cory Adams, City Manager Sharon D. Subedat, and Interim City Attorney Sarah Kelly. Thank you for being the best part of the City of South Booth, a City on the Rock.

All right, good afternoon. I will officially call the City Council work session for May 26, 2026 to order at 4.01 p.m. Mr. Clerk, can you please sound the roll?

Yes, ma'am. Good afternoon, Madam Mayor, members of Council, and the general public. This is the roll call for today's work session. The Honorable Catherine F. Rowe, District 1. Present.

The Honorable

The Honorable Aaron V. Johnson, District 2. Present. The Honorable JC Sebastian, District 4. Here. The Honorable Keosha B. Bell, District 5.

Present.

The Honorable Natasha Williams-Brown, District 6.

Present.

The Honorable Linda B. Pritchett, District 7.

Here.

The Honorable Mayor, Carmelita Gumbs.

Present.

Madam Mayor, you have a core.

Thank you. We will now have the reading of the Civility Pledge by Mayor Pro Tem, Keosha B. Bale.

City of South Fulton Civility Pledge, the way we govern ourselves is often as important as the positions we take. Our collective decisions will be better when differing views have had the opportunity to be fully vetted and considered. All people have the right to be treated with respect Courtesy and openness we value all input We commit to conduct our to conduct ourselves at all times with civility and courtesy to each other All right.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk.

Please sound the next item next item on the agenda is the city manager report the introduction of new employees and

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. We only have one new administrative employee to share with you this evening. And it is Miss Zabrina Drake. Zabrina, could you come on up? And Zabrina is our new PCARD administrator. Mm-hmm. Welcome to the city of South Fulton. So we see emails come from Sabrina about training and about anything to do with PCARS and our new policy. Um, now you can put a face with the name. So welcome Sabrina. She comes to us from, um, state of Georgia and has Georgia state and has lots of experience with, um, with P cards. All right. Welcome aboard.

Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. All right. Any questions? All right. Mr Clark, please sound the next item.

Madam Mayor, that brings us to presentations. The first presentation this afternoon is a presentation by Dr. Pamela Rochelle, Chief Operating Officer, Fulton County Government on Fulton County Senior Services.

Good afternoon, Madam Mayor and members of the council. I am Pamela Rochelle. I'm the Chief Operating Officer for Fulton County and it is my pleasure today to provide an overview of HHS South, specifically the senior services that will be provided in this facility. Next slide please. So Fulton County, oh thank you. Fulton County has embarked on a very grand vision to ensure access to health and human services across the county. And one of those areas that we have identified through our project care study that I led in 2023 after the closure of two hospitals really zeroes in on the healthcare desert and the lack of healthcare access that has been a long standing issue, especially in South Fulton. So with that, the board tasked me as well as members of my team with creating a plan to address just that. And so today I will share specifics about HHS South, HHS Health and Human Services South, as well as some of the other projects that we have completed to date. And so HHS South, Health and Human Services South, will be located in the city of South Fulton. Specifically, the location that we will be presenting to the Board of Commissioners at the second meeting in June will be across from the current South Annex on Stonewall Tale. The county owns this land and it will give us the opportunity to build from the ground up a purpose-built facility for this purpose. In this facility under one roof will be senior services, specifically a senior center with two components. One will be a multi-purpose senior center And the other component will be an adult day care health program. Both of these services will be run by trained professional staff. The services will be provided Monday through Friday, approximately 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. We will include several elements that already exist, and I will go into more detail specifically. This facility will also house a behavioral health program for children and adults. We will also include a Fulton County Board of Health access point. And so there is no current Fulton County board of health clinic as far south as Stonewall tell. And so this facility in partnership with the board of health, which is now managed by the state of Georgia, have agreed to partner with us in this facility and provide a full array of board of health services. We will also have, customer service access point to answer questions generally about the county and we will also include a recovery treatment court. Next slide please. And so it's also important to make sure that constituents understand what this facility is not. And so this is not an outpatient. What it is is an outpatient behavioral health substance use disorder services. It's not a homeless shelter or a housing facility. It will include senior wellness programs and caregiver resources as well as preventative screenings and immunizations, customer service and navigation for Fulton County programs, and our court-supervised treatment alternative for individuals who have had an unfortunate situation concerning their driving and driving under the influence. Under our Board of Health access, we will also include a brand new vital records service program. Again, what this is not, it is not emergency medical center. It is not crisis or walk-in emergency service. It's not a public safety or law enforcement operation or any sort of residential inpatient facility. Again, these are services that will be provided during the week and then all of participants who are either on campus to receive services or there throughout the day, the services will conclude each evening. Next slide please. So Fulton County remains committed to providing adult day health and neighborhood senior services and multipurpose. Again, this service will include the senior center component, which is a full array of arts programming, wellness programs, day trips, and assortment of services with the goal of assisting seniors to remain in their home, to remain active and connected to the community. and to the services and resources that can help them do that. We also have the adult day health program, which is for the more frail older adult that may be living with a relative or living at home that quite frankly may be placed in a nursing home if these services weren't available. And so again, the goal here is to maintain as many older adults happy, active, and thriving in the community. These services will include transportation, all at no cost to constituents. For any constituent that would like to be connected to our current array of adult day and senior services today, the number is 404-613-6000, And when they call that number, they will be greeted by a trained case manager who can speak with them about all of the services that we provide. Some are center based and some are offered in the home like home delivered meals in home care support. So please call that number, speak to one of our trained staff, And a question I often get is my daughter or son or granddaughter or grandson lives in another state. I live in the city of South Fulton, for example. Can they call on my behalf? Absolutely. As long as the resident lives in Fulton County, anyone can call on their behalf to broker services. Next slide please. behavioral health and developmental disability services. Today, we offer a full array of services for adults. We offer children's services. We also recently reopened a developmental disabilities training center on Fairburn Road. It is a beautiful facility. It is for older adults who are living with developmental disabilities but want to remain engaged in the community. We offer a variety of training and therapeutic services, and we have capacity to intake new residents into this program. And so we would love to see any residents in South Fulton, the city of South Fulton specifically, who may be interested. Please call the main number at 404-612-6520. These services will be offered in the new HHS South. Next slide, please. I did want to just also give some information about a very new program that we launched and want to thank Mayor Gumbs for being a part of the launch of this program. But it's basically an opportunity for us to connect families and individuals who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis in the community to be connected to resources on the spot, so to speak. Unfortunately, we have seen instances where individuals are in a behavioral health crisis and because those that are sometimes involved on the spot don't know what is happening, that individual isn't triaged to the right care immediately. And so what this does is connects individuals to trained clinicians who accompany the sheriff when there is a call that may be behavioral health related. And it allows us to connect them to care so that they are diverted quite frankly away from jail and into the proper behavioral health. That service is now available and we do want to thank the city for being a part of this project. We think it will go a long way to connecting individuals who are experiencing a behavioral health crisis to the right care at the beginning of their episode. Next slide please. As I said, the Board of Health will also be a part of HHS South. Here you see all of the services that will be a part of the facility that will be built. And you see here children's dental, WIC, women's health, environmental health. And the reason environmental health is so important, not only to the community for pool inspections and sewer inspections, this is the point where businesses who need health inspections for a food truck or opening a new business, they will have an access point in South Fulton and they won't have to travel for any of these services downtown vital records right now. The main access point, the only access point for city of South Fulton residents, they must travel to one 41 prior street. The board of health has agreed to open a vital records access point in this new facility in the city of South Fulton. So your constituents will no longer have to travel downtown for those vital records. It will be a full array of any of the services and records that you can access today at one 41 prior will be available here. Next slide please. These are just access points that we've developed since the closing of the hospital. the two hospitals and you just see we've added multiple access points everything from mobile clinics for seniors to a few of the projects I've already described the county also has invested in the recently opened emergency room and we are looking forward to the new hospital that is planned and how the county can be a part of the investments needed to bring that to fruition. Next slide please. This is just an app that I developed with my team. Many constituents are quite mobile these days as far as their telephones and so this mobile app can be downloaded on the app stores and it will connect you to all of the services that are available today. in Fulton County, but will soon be coming to the city of South Fulton. And so just a finer point on a timeline. So we will be bringing the plans for the HHS South facility, which we will propose to be located on Stonewall Tell in the city of South Fulton at the second meeting in June. Because this building will be built from the ground up, it is estimated to be a approximately three year project to build the facility. So I will look forward to future updates and visits from any of the council members as we move this project forward. Madam mayor, that concludes my remarks.

All right. Thank you very much. Do we have any questions from the council in the queue?

all right i will recognize mayor pro tem keosha bell thank you mayor and and thank you so much dr rochelle i appreciate all of the work that you and hss have done most specifically in camelot working with the residents who have been displaced so thank you for that this is super exciting um we just had a meeting our town hall meeting a week well actually two back to back in the last couple of weeks and so a lot of residents concerns have been where the senior facilities have been promised these facilities and resources for quite some time. And so, you know, with everything, it takes a little bit of cooking and blowing up and developing a plan. So thank you for the presentation. Most importantly, thank you for, I know I had an opportunity to speak with chairman pits in regards to this, last year. So I'm super excited to finally get it on the roll now. As far as the data app, the mobile application, will there also be a way to schedule services? And I'm thinking more of our legacy, our seasoned elite residents. Yes, they have, a lot of them have technical skills. We know my mom's 77 and is on every social media platform. But nevertheless, will they also have an opportunity to schedule appointments? I know there was some tweaking that initially was discussed with the plan of the mobile app. And then also I want to give you all kudos for adding in HIV services and adding in those additional disability services because I know there was some questions about what are we going to put at this. But most importantly, thank you for the accessibility for our residents because now they don't have to drive downtown pay for parking and walk. Um, now these services will be provided right in our community, right in our backyard. So thank you. And just wanted to know a little bit more information as far as the app.

Yes, ma'am. So the app is available today to access any service, but all of the numbers that I shared for constituents who may not be as savvy with a telephone and scheduling appointments that way they can absolutely call. and we will assist them by phone. I also want to extend myself to you and any of the other council members. If you have town halls and you would like for me to participate and share this update or just any updates on the services that we provide and how to connect in the interim, I'm happy to do that.

All right. Thank you. Next we'll move to councilwoman Linda Pritchett.

Thank you, madam mayor. Thank you so much for your very detailed presentation. It's much appreciated. Um, how many senior centers does Fulton County have in its totality?

Thank you for the question. Today we have four multipurpose facilities. Those facilities are for the more active older adult. We provide the arts classes, the wellness classes, And so we have for the Bowden facility, the Darnell facility mills as well as Benson. We also have 14, neighborhood senior centers that are a smaller footprint but are scattered in additional places throughout the county. And so the similarities are that both provide meals, they provide transportation and a variety of classes. For older adults that would like a smaller environment, the neighborhood senior center would be the recommended location.

Okay, so is it possible that you can provide all of us with all this information so that we can share this with our constituents? Absolutely. So out of the four multipurpose facilities, how many are in North Fulton?

So out of the four, the closest would be the Benson facility in Roswell. That is the only one considered located. However, we just opened a new HHS North, which is similar to the facility that I described for South and that is in Alpharetta. It has the same array of services that will be offered South. And so that is the second location that was just opened last month.

So out of the neighborhood senior centers, you said there were 14 in the county. How many of those are in North Fulton?

North Fulton, we have two or three that are really city owned assets that we provide programming for, but we count them as a part of the network. So I would say three, I can get you the specific number. And one of those is the new center that opened with the North facility.

So if it's three, that means that they're like 11 in the South.

So they're central north and south. We have some that are considered in the central part of the city. We have some, the furthest south would be Chattahoochee Hills. We have a few there, one in Union City, but I can get you the breakdown by city of where those are located.

Okay. So I represent District 7, which is one of the borders of our city. We border Riverdale and Clayton County. We border Fayette County. Fayetteville, then Fairburn, Union City, and I don't think we board a College Park. However, in my district, I have no facilities citywide, I mean city or county. So I would like if you all gave some consideration to that area, which includes Old National, Bethsaida Road, Oakley Industrial, Peters Road, those areas where there are lots of seniors who are breathing down our necks about wanting senior facilities and senior activities in that area. So my next question is, for individuals having health crises, do they have to go voluntarily since you mentioned that this is something that will be facilitated through the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, if an individual looks like they're having a health crisis, do they have to voluntarily go?

So, two things. The HHS South facility is, just so that the public is clear, is separate and apart from the co-responder model. that I described, so all of the services, behavioral health, all of the services, senior center, all of those are completely voluntary. You register, you can go and come as you please. For the co-responder model, which is separate, which is a new project, if an individual absolutely can refuse, to enter into treatment, their options probably would be, in what I've seen in these scenarios, treatment or if you would like to, if they're considered a threat to themselves or the community, then there may be less voluntary triggers there. So each scenario is different, so if they are considered somehow a threat to themselves or the community, it may be less voluntary. But if it just seems based on the assessment of the clinician that they can be deescalated and perhaps depending on why they were called, if it involves what may be considered criminal activity, then choices may surround in jail, quite frankly. So each situation is very different. And so I can't say in a blanket way that everyone would have a voluntary option, but if it hasn't escalated to the point of meeting a standard of a threat to themselves or society, then yes, voluntary participation would be an option.

Because I know that this year, House Bill 152, I believe it passed, which kind of requires cities to remove trespassers on personal property, which can be shopping plazas, that type of thing. And, um, in my district particularly, we, I have experienced, um, homeless individuals or I guess unsheltered individuals that people just ignore them like, oh, that's okay. That man can live at the bus stop, um, for five months. But what consequently happened is I was told that he died, that he wind up freezing. not being sympathetic to whatever is what that person is experiencing. I think it is a, um, I think a person is being harmed when they are exposed. And I think that, um, Marta bus shelters are not suitable, uh, places for them to live, whether it's trespassing or what have you. And I remember that commissioner Arrington had a presentation at one of our, um, South Fulton Municipal Association dinners and all of these services are available to us from Fulton County but the issue is making sure that our officers are trained in how to coordinate the use of these services and then actually looking at it from the perspective of you're just not going to live at this bus stop. you know um you're just not going to create a camp on private property and then we look at it from the uh from constituents perspectives oh wow there's so much trash there it's illegal dumping and then we wind up finding out that there are camps that people are camping out in the woods keep people camping out behind our parks so we do need help i believe in this city dealing with these problems that are not so obvious as in perhaps Atlanta where you just see dozens or hundreds of unsheltered persons, but they're, they're here and there and we really do need assistance in dealing with these issues.

Thank you for that. So of course in the situation you described related to legislation, your city ordinances would prevail. And so if that results in, uh, some sort of, of jail involvement, justice involvement, then, then that would be the course. One of the other services that we will provide at this facility. So right now today at the South annex, which is the facility that is currently in operation, we do have a homeless assessment. services program, and so we're happy to have that team speak with the officers or anyone in the city of South Fulton who would like more information about what that assessment process is and how we use that to connect constituents to services.

Thank you so much. You're welcome. I appreciate the information.

Thank you, Councilwoman Pritchett. Councilman Johnson.

Thank you madam mayor. Thank you again, Dr Rochelle for coming down. We truly appreciated this information. It's something that I know a lot of us hear about all the time, especially in district two. So I will be the very first person to take you up on that town hall because I get a lot of questions about a, uh, more specifically a multipurpose facility in our area. This is absolutely amazing and we're excited to have it. I'm also looking, to see what we can do about a multipurpose facility, understanding the differences and the programming that goes on, because we have a lot of very, very, very active seniors, and we have a lot of seniors that want to be active, but the concern that we have a lot is they go over to the Bowdoin Center, and they're told they're full. Um, my neighbor across the street from me, she actually uses facilities in Douglas County a lot. She pays to go to Douglas County because every time she tries to get into a Fulton County facility, or program more so than she's told we're full and it's just, you know, hard to get in, um, great facilities, great programming. Uh, but I do have a question in the sense that with this new facility, would you have some programming that you would normally have in a multipurpose facility, you know, until you got that one in district two that, you know, what could be very good, but, uh, will you have programming going on in that facility?

Yes, so this will, the programming will mirror what is provided in multipurpose. So we have the multipurpose programming, and then we'll have the adult day programming. So arts, computer classes, the wellness, the land fitness classes, all of those programs will be offered at the HHS South facility.

Okay, great. And how large is this facility? Cause it seems like there's a lot going on in this facility and 82, a hundred thousand square feet. Oh, they go Walmart, huh?

Yeah. So yes. So we will have ample space for senior services. So it's definitely much more than a, an office. It is a full, purpose-built multipurpose component and a full purpose-built adult day component.

And one last question. When you talk about the programming, you said that the programming is center-based. So I'm assuming that means you look around the area and see which programs are most beneficial for the residents around it. Have you already done that for this facility, or is that something that you do on an ongoing basis?

So for this facility, at this moment, the programming is very high level. Arts, land and physical fitness, wellness, computers. But what we will do as we move closer to actually creating the programming, we will come to city council, of course the mayor, and craft programming specifically for what the residents would like to see. So it's not cookie cutter. What is cookie cutter? So to speak is the broad categories. There will be arts classes, but if the residents here would like more watercolor or fabrics and textiles, that's what we would offer. And the opportunity here is all of the staff have to be hired for this facility. So we're not picking, staff up and placing them here and saying, well, all we have is watercolor instructor instructors. So that's what we'll get. So yes, there will be plenty of opportunity to have conversations with the community. That is why those town halls that you're having the opportunity to collect that input and create the type of experiences that the residents in the city of South Fulton want to see We absolutely have that opportunity. It is not built out to any specifications other than general size, general programming to mirror what's offered in multipurpose, but to say that it will be computer 101 on only Apple applications absolutely have not gotten there. There's plenty of opportunity to collaborate.

Awesome. Thank you. Um, as a council member bail mentioned earlier, the vital records portion is going to be very exceptional for us because a lot of people, especially in this area, navigating downtown.

Yes.

I can't say they can't do it. They just hate doing it. But the mere fact that they will now, uh, we can go get our children's birth certificates from right down in South Fulton is a very, very great added, uh, program for us. So thank you again. I truly appreciate you coming. You're welcome. And I will call you about that town hall.

Absolutely. Thank you. Councilman Johnson, councilman Sebastian.

Thank you, Dr. Rochelle. Pleasure seeing you again. And also, thank you for your presentation. As much as I would like to claim this as the City of South Fulton's facility only, it's going to be a regional facility. And with at least eight cities down here on this side, how will we work together as a region to figure out all the details and all the programming and all that, because that's going to be a necessary part of this process.

Yes, sir. Thank you for that. There is certainly much opportunity for collaboration with the horizon that's before us. I really appreciate the opportunity to have this conversation to understand what your interests are, how you want to be engaged, how you want your constituents engaged, And yes, there are some access points in other cities that are considered South Fulton counties, but we certainly will look at how we can work together across all cities that will be impacted to make sure that this provides the best access and programming for constituents. So look forward to any ideas. meetings, anything that you think will be helpful as we move this forward.

And I think that kind of goes to my question was how would we be able to actually collaborate with it being so many cities that will be, I guess, utilizing the facility. Certainly we have a lot of senior programming and that's busting out the seams at our rec center. So I don't know how you all work with cities. Do you all go into an MOU or are other municipalities using your regional facility, that one that you just did in, I believe, Sandy Springs?

Yeah, in Alpharetta.

In Alpharetta. So just curious about that. And you said it'll be about three years from turning dirt or for erection? Dirt. They're okay.

Since it's built. So many of the other projects that I described, we found facilities that we could rehab, which cut the timeline down. We could not find a facility that was large enough for the vision that we have for the senior programming plus all of the other services. And that is why we're recommending or will be recommending building a facility. How we have worked with other cities, we have through MOUs. So for example, in Union City, we have an MOU to work with them on programming. They own the facility. We have included the services that are provided at the Etrus Darnell facility. Those programs primarily are provided through our Fulton County South Fulton Senior Services contract. And so certainly, Madam Mayor, happy to have conversations about how we can collaborate. So we provide the meals for that, meals, M-E-A-L-S, for that facility, arts programming, different programs we collaborate with them to provide that. So certainly if there is interest in providing or partnering with our existing senior services contracts, more than happy to have the conversation. But yes, ma'am, they're through MOUs.

Okay. Well, sounds like some cost savings there. But thank you for your presentation.

Yes, ma'am.

All right, Mr. Clerk, can you please sound the next item?

Yes, Madam Mayor, that brings us to the next presentation. Tease Floss 3 presentation by Dr. Mark Antony Cooper. Antoine Cooper, assistant city manager.

Antony. Good evening, Madam Mayor, City Council. This is Dr. I am Dr. Mark Antony Cooper. Assistant City Manager with the City of South Fulton. And I just wanted to kind of give you an update on some things that have been brought to us with TSPLOS III. I know we went over this at the retreat and we gave like high level information that we were provided. However, now we have some more detailed information that was provided by Fulton County and the state. So I would just like to give you kind of a brief overview of that. Each one of you were given from the city manager, if I'm not mistaken, the detailed project list. And that was based on the meetings that we had with each of you. We made sure that all of those projects were incorporated in TSPLAS. And as the city manager loves to say, you can have anything, but you can't have everything. We tried to put everything in, so we're going to try to make sure we get as much of it as possible. First slide. So I'm not going to read the slides verbatim, but on here the biggest thing I wanted to remind everyone is that the referendum vote is scheduled for November 3rd. of 2026. So it is imperative that we move forward with a lot of the things that we have coming forward. Next. The schedule, the project list, this is what we had each meeting with each of you. That was developed between January and May. The initial project list is to be submitted at the end of this month, so it was imperative that we move this along to get it on this meeting before the break in June so we could get it over on time to the county. We have the, put my glasses on so I can see. We have the intergovernmental agreement confirmation that we'll be discussing in July, moving on to the period of voter education, August through November, for that referendum on November 3rd. Next slide. Here's what everyone wanted to know. Georgia State University had given projected sales tax projections, and based on them, we have three options, a conservative forecast, at 662 million, anticipated, 686, and optimistic, 815 million. What everyone is using is the conservative forecast method to discuss our projects. Next slide. Using that method, it would look like about 662 million. The total collection less fees would be 653. So at 85%, which is tier one, the conservative method that is being used, the total collection would be about 555.1 million. Next slide. South Fulton, we are the largest city, and we will get the largest allocation of this based on our 2024 census estimate. We will get 18.27% of the collection. The last couple of T-splots, we only got about 16.5%. We have grown, as you all know, so we were at 18.2 for this TSPLAS. Based on that, our allocation would be, under the conservative method, at tier one, about 101 million. So that's the number that we went on to look at all the projects, and if you look at your project list, that's what our projects would total, about $101,370,859. Next slide. The categories that are being used, we're using the same categories that we used in TSPLOS I and TSPLOS II, and those categories are based on the transportation projects that's needed. The percentage allocations are roughly the same percentage allocations that's been used throughout TSPLOS I and TSPLOS II. We kind of looked at that to kind of come up with the funds that would be in each category under the TSPLOS III. Next slide. So our strategic priority, again, is to invest in roadways, resurfacing, congestion mitigation. With all of those things, address long-standing transportation inequities, prioritize our sidewalk and safety, multimodal connectivity. As you all know, we did move about 19 million in projects from TSPLOS II to TSPLOS III. Those projects are there, and those were mostly sidewalk projects. and to maintain transparency and geographic balance in the project's delivery. And Madam Mayor, that concludes my presentation, and I'm open to any questions.

All right. It doesn't look like we have any questions. You did a good job.

Thank you.

All right. You did a great job. Thank you very much. Mr. Clerk, can you please tell the next item? Oh, I'm sorry, time out. We do have a question. Dr. Rao?

Thank you for recognizing me. Some of the projects that I really wanted to get slated didn't make the TSPLOS III. And I understand you used the PSI index. Will you be prioritizing looking at grant funds to cover some of those other projects?

Yes, ma'am. We will be looking at our LMAG funds. Um, actually the city manager and I did have that discussion today. Uh, we will be looking at LMAG funds to prioritize many of those projects.

Okay. Thank you.

All right. Are there any more questions? Okay. Thank you, Dr. Cooper. Mr. Clerk, can you please sound the next item?

Yes, ma'am. That brings us to Roman number five, executive session, if necessary.

All right.

We need executive session.

Okay. We will adjourn for executive session for cybersecurity, real estate, litigation, and personnel. If there are no objections, we are now recessed for executive session.

It's a roll call for the 5 p.m. ECHO license on public hearing. The Honorable Catherine F. Ryle, District 1. The Honorable Aaron V. Johnson, District 2. Present. The Honorable J.C. Sebastian, District 4. Sorry, we have to go up here. The Honorable Keosha B. Bell, District 5.

Present.

The Honorable Natasha Williams-Brown, District 6.

Present.

The Honorable Linda B. Pritchett, District 7.

Here.

And the Honorable Mayor Carmelita Gumbs. Here. Madam Mayor, you have a quorum.

All right. Mr. Clerk, please sound the next item.

Madam Mayor, members of Council, we have two public hearings this afternoon. The first is a public hearing impact fee presentation, which will be provided by Mr. Reginald McClendon, Managing Director, Department of Community Development and Regulatory Affairs.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Reggie McClendon, Managing Director of Community Development and Regulatory Affairs. Today we have a public hearing for our capital improvements element, which is an integral part of our impact fee study and analysis that we have done as a city in our attempt to implement impact fees. This hearing is required by state law and so we're going to have our consultant Ms. Pace-Hatley come up and describe exactly what a capital improvements element is and what is included in the capital improvements element. Afterwards, I would ask Madam Mayor to open up a public hearing and give the community at least 10 minutes if anyone wants to comment on the items in the capital improvements element. By way of reminder, we have been working on our impact fees, our impact fee study for I believe well over a year at this point. We did delay the process a little bit because it has to Our passage of our comprehensive plan had to precede the capital improvements element because the capital improvements element will be adopted as part of our work program for our comprehensive plan. And so that is why we are bringing this to you today. So without delay, Ms. Hadley.

Thank you and good evening. As Mr. McClendon mentioned, the CIE or capital improvements element is a core component of an impact fee study and at the end of it, potentially a component of an impact fee program if the city elects to adopt one. Here we go. It is a state requirement. There are two formal components or documents that ultimately comprise an impact fee program. The CIE or capital improvements element is the first. This is a project-based document that is required of all communities in the state of Georgia that contemplate collecting impact fees. It specifically looks at the long-range need for certain capital projects and services that are needed to serve growth and development. It's considered a component of the comprehensive plan, so upon adoption, it would be integrated into your recently updated comp plan as an appendix, with its focus being on capital projects eligible for impact fee funding, specifically pertaining to parks, police, and fire. It is long-range in scope, as I mentioned, consistent with the planning horizon of your comprehensive plan. And so the state, the Department of Community Affairs guidelines mandates that we look ahead based on projected growth in population, housing, and employment over the coming decades. What's going to be needed to serve future development? So we have a long-range list that's in the capital improvements element, as well as a five-year work program where the state says, in addition to the full list of projects that could be funded with impact fees because they're needed to serve new development, what is anticipated to be completed in the near term? You have a five-year work program in your comprehensive plan, and there would be a complimentary five-year work program focusing on these parks, police, and fire projects in the CIE. The state also requires that the CIE identify service areas for your police, fire, and parks systems. As is common with municipal impact view programs, the entire city is considered the service area because regardless of the location of your parks, police, and fire projects or amenities, facilities, they all serve everyone equally within the city. They're accessible to all residents regardless of location. I want to stress that the CIE does not address the fee calculations and the impact fees themselves that could be charged to help pay for the projects in the CIE. That's not the purview of the Department of Community Affairs. They're looking at everything else that gets us to the point of identifying and justifying the need for certain specific projects. State law allows these general project types in terms of impact fee expenditures. So really, that means we're looking at these three groupings. The CID identifies additional park amenities and trail projects, additional building area and additional heavy vehicles. So anything that increases the capacity or the city's ability to expand services to accommodate a growing city. The CIE is not inclusive of all projects, of all needs that you may identify that may be in plans, that may be in your budget, because we have to isolate those needs that are forward-looking in nature, that are intended to accommodate future growth, not meeting issues that may exist today. So what that looks like in terms of parks and police and fire. This is a summary table based on a larger table that is from the draft CIE that shows all of the type and number of the park amenities that are eligible for funding from impact fees, meaning these are the number that we can attribute to new growth. This is the new growth demand. And so, project costs, project years, all of those things may change. But when it comes time to annual budgeting, everyone needs to be mindful of the fact that impact fees, as they grow over time with development, these are the projects, both in type and numbers, that can't be exceeded in terms of using impact fees as a funding source. The same principle applies to fire. With fire and police, we look at square footage and heavy vehicles as the two primary types of projects eligible for funding. And so there's a cap on the number of square footage and a cap on the number of heavy vehicles or fire apparatus that we've calculated as being this is what is demanded by new growth and no more than this. So the CIE contemplates impact fees being utilized for debt service for the fire rescue project. And there's also a maximum of up to six fire apparatus that could be funded with impact fees over time. For police, it's the same as fire. What's the maximum number of square feet and additional building area that could be funded with impact fees? That too is associated with the bonded police headquarters project and debt service. Impact fees can be used towards that. And then there is one specialized vehicle that would have a service life of at least 10 years that could be acquired to expand the city's fleet. whether that's a CSI van or a mobile command center, something that, again, is roadworthy for at least 10 years as required by state law. The next steps then, the CIE has to go to the Department of Community Affairs for review. While it's under development or under review rather by DCA, which is upwards of a two-month process, we're going to finalize the fee calculations. and those are an integral part of your development impact fee ordinance. So we'll have the ordinance text that will go for legal review and then we'll have upwards of a two-page fee schedule identifying the maximum fees that could be charged for a single family house for a new gas station, for a new office building, et cetera. Those two pieces combined constitute an impact fee program, adoption of the CIE and the development impact fee ordinance. So the fee setting then where we go from here while the CIE is under state review, We're going to finish the calculations and bring back the maximum fees that could be charged to the advisory committee that was appointed by council last year, and they've convened once. They are charged by state law with providing input prior to adoption of the ordinance, i.e., the fee schedule. So, their input will be shared with you all at the point that you engage in discussions about what you would like to do in terms of an impact fee program and potential fees. As part of that, we'll get into detail at future work sessions, but we're going to look at local comps, who else in the metro area is authorized to collect impact fees and what are they collecting. Just as one example, folks, we often start at a detached single family house fee as trying to get an apples to apples comparison. And regardless of what communities could charge, generally it tends to fall between the 2,000 into the 3,000 range per single family house. But we're gonna get into that. again, in future meetings, but just wanted to give a heads up as to sort of a context of what is currently being charged in other communities in the area. And these are some of those communities in the metro region that are shown here. Finally, just to summarize, there is, as mentioned, the public hearing that's required by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, after which, at the 7 o'clock meeting, we have a transmittal resolution for city council to consider that would formally authorize the draft to be moved forward for state review. We'll be getting into the fee setting, convening again with the advisory committee and with council at future work sessions. State law requires there be two public hearings before adoption of the ordinance and fee schedule. And then ultimately, if the city so chooses to move forward with implementing an impact fee program, adoption of both the CIE as approved by DCA and the ordinance including the fee schedule as set by city council would need to be adopted, followed by staff training. And that is my last slide providing an overview prior to public comment.

Okay. Thank you for your presentation at this time. I will open up public hearing. Do you want to read the rules clerk? Cause I don't have them in front of me.

Actually, madam mayor, we did not receive any, um, people who signed up for public comment, but, um, if anyone is present and wishes to offer public comment, you'd be provided up to 10 minutes per the request of the director to provide public comment regarding this item. But at this time we didn't receive any online or in the chambers this afternoon.

Any for opposition as well?

None.

Okay. So at this time I will close public hearing. Okay. And this item is on the agenda. Do we have any? Questions from the council? It does not appear that we have any questions from the council. And this item will appear on the agenda for a first read.

I think it's just the public hearing, but it's a resolution. OK.

All right. I thought you were coming back up to the podium.

Just to clarify, correct. It is just, uh, with the item on tonight's, the seven o'clock meeting would be a transmittal resolution. That is the formal authorization that would kick the draft CIE to DCA. We would then transmit it to ARC who sends it to DCA and gets it in the review pipeline.

Awesome. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you. All right. Mr. Clerk sound the next item.

That brings us to our next public hearing. It's a pre-development community development block grant 2026 to 2030 consolidated plan.

Hi. Good afternoon.

We're glad to hear your presentation.

Madam Mayor, council members, Madam City Manager, my name is Alfredo Duran. I am with Housing and Community Development Associates and it is my pleasure, my associate's pleasure, to be here assisting the city of South Fulton's Department of Grants in the preparation of the city's five-year Consolidated Plan, which is required for continuing participation in the federal grants that you receive, which particularly is the Community Development Block Grant Program. Today I'm here as part of the Consolidated Plan process to assist the city with the first of two required public hearings The primary purpose of these hearings is to give the residents of the city the opportunity to provide input as to the community needs and how the city might best use these federal funds to address them. The following brief presentation is to familiarize the residents with the consolidated plan process and encourage their valuable participation. And you will excuse me, I'm gonna use this hand because I cannot see very well, so. So basically, why is a consolidated plan necessary? Why do we need to prepare a consolidated plan? It is a requirement of the federal government for a municipality or jurisdiction that receives any one of four federal grants, particularly the CDBG program, which is what you receive, but there are others, the Home Investment Partnership Program, the Housing Opportunity for Persons with AIDS, and the Emergency Solutions Grants, which are all programs that are received by your state and regional partners, not necessarily you, but they still benefit the city indirectly in projects that may be developed or planned for the city. What is the consolidated plan? It is a planning document designed to help states and local jurisdictions access their affordable housing community development needs. It documents the strategy to carry out HUD programs for the next five years. And most importantly, it serves as the application to continue to receive these federal funds. What does the process involve? It involves a lot of public participation, like this meeting we're having today. It also includes a needs assessment, analyzes the housing and community development needs, market analysis, examines local housing market conditions, public hearing, reviews findings from the needs assessment, market analysis, and public surveys, which will be available as well starting tomorrow. It's a strategic plan. defines priorities, goals, and available resources for the next five years. And it's also followed by annual action plans that continue to inform HUD of your continued plan to use the funds for that particular reason or if you have any changes. Public participation is extremely important. And it includes participations from stakeholders, engaging stakeholders, such as the Fulton County Continuum of Care. or the housing authority for Fulton County, social service agencies. And most importantly is having the residents of the city give their opinions. So that's why we're having this particular meeting today. And the second one will be planned for June 14th, at which time the plan would hopefully be approved. And like I said, starting on May 28th, there will be a survey which also engages the residents in a few questions that are needed to be asked. What kind of market information goes into the plan? This slide demonstrates a growth in the city using a baseline of 2019 which is five years from today, to 2024. During that period of time, the city's population, household, and median income all grew by pretty substantial amounts, population by 14%, households by 22%, and median income by 25%. which shows and demonstrates that this is a thriving and growing healthy community. The population that it states here was from 2024 and it is anticipated that by now population is around 115,000. It must be noted that this data comes from two sources. One is the CHAS, which is the Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy and it is a a specialized database that's provided to HUD by the census tract, and the other one is the American Community Survey, which is an annual update to the 10-year census, and it's provided by the Census Bureau. These two sources are required by HUD that are used for the data, so you might find that some data is a little different today than the data that is used, but we're using what they are requiring us to use. This slide demonstrates the different categories of affordability in the city and how many residents or households are of these categories. So if you see the first line is households of 30% of AMI or less. And you see that there's very similar amounts when it comes to renters as opposed to owners. And as the incomes grow, you see more home ownership and less rental, which is what we all know that it's very difficult for lower income families to become homeowners. It's becoming very difficult for all kinds of incomes, but specifically for those of very low income. And why is that happening? Housing problems are defined as four categories. One is cost burden. The definition of affordability for anyone is that your housing cost does not exceed 30% of your gross monthly income. So when it exceeds 30%, that converts, it makes you cost burdened. Other housing problems is overcrowding. Can you afford a house or a place to live that can accommodate your family size? So overcrowding is another problem. And then deficiencies in the housing, whether they have bad plumbing or they're just not up to par. Then you have severe problems where it's magnified by 50%. It increases your cost of housing to 50%, and that's called severe cost burden. So that also increasing your overcrowding or the conditions of the home. These are the definitions of these housing problems. What this slide demonstrates is the housing burden, cost burden for renters and for owners. So if you look at here for rent, which is clear that renters who are burdened 30 percent, in other words, they pay more than 30 percent of their income on their house, on their units, are pretty much from 80 percent all the way down. So families of 80 percent AMI all the way down to zero are at least cost burdened 30 percent or greater. While when it becomes a highly burdened household, then you're dealing with households of 50 percent of AMI down. They are families or households that have incomes of 50 percent, I'm sorry, that are paying more than 50 percent of their income in housing are of those income levels, lower than 50 percent AMI. For home ownership, or for homeowners, it's pretty much the same. Okay. Housing unit composition. There are 43,731, as of this date, households, units in the city. 79% of them are detached single-family homes. very small amounts of multiple unit buildings. So you are primarily residential city. Housing stock characteristics, housing age is you have most homes were built between 2000 and 2009. Approximately 24% of the housing units were built before 1979. So it's not a very old housing stock. in general. Again, housing characteristics between renters and owners, 75 percent are owners, 25 percent are renters. Housing cost. As of the ACS of 2024, your estimated median income or median household value was $309,000. The average mortgage payment was $1,806, and the average rent was $1,782. And as of most current Redfin data, your median sales price is $345,000, and your median rent is $1,600 a month. Poverty levels, here are a list of poverty numbers or income based on family size. The good news is that South Fulton at 9.1% is less than the national average and less than the state of Georgia. Now, moving forward, we now are going to hopefully engage the community and listen to their input as to what they believe that they need for the city to consider in terms of applying these funds. But before that, they need to understand what these funds can be used for. The CDBG program can be used for the general categories of affordable housing, public facilities and improvement, economic development, and public services. Some examples of affordable housing, housing rehabilitation, down payment assistance, public service, street, sidewalks, drainage, facility improvements, economic development could be job training, small businesses assistance, public service, youth, senior, and homeless services. The city's current CDBG-funded activities have been used for land acquisition to acquire developed pocket parks, ADA playground improvements and senior home owner rehab, which is a program that's ongoing and they're very encouraged to continue. Future funding resources. So we know that this year the federal government has informed the city that they will be receiving $563,496 of CDBG funding. The $2.8 million you see there is a projection if, for the following five years, the federal government remains stable and provides the same amount. We don't know. It could be greater. It could be less. But that's what the city will be working with in terms of these CDBG funds. So we need to determine now, what are the city's priorities for the next five years? Which activity should the CDBG funds program be used for? And we encourage public participation. So at this point, I would ask for that public participation.

All right. Thank you for your presentation. At this time, I will open public hearing. Mr. Clerk, can you please sound the rules?

Yes, ma'am. Similar to the last public hearing, we did not receive any comment cards for this public hearing. But if anyone is present and wishes to offer public comment, please approach at this time. You have 10 minutes total to make any comments necessary. But no comment cards in opposition or support were received.

Okay, thank you. At this time, I will close public hearing and I will entertain questions from the council, starting with Councilwoman Pritchett.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, sir, for such a great presentation. I've seen a presentation similar to this, like on the national level, where I recognize that this city is a little bit unique in that we are above the national average on home ownership. Your presentation showed that we're at 75%. You also showed that I forget the percentage, but it's a high percentage of single family homes or detached homes versus town homes, duplexes, apartments. So in this city, what I have seen, um, over the last four years that I've been here is that our residents, um, are very hostile towards, yeah, hostile, extremely. hostile towards um renters um townhouses it's like cuss words fight you know they get ready to fight um because i i think that they don't have an appreciation for the fact that we need a diversity in in housing stock that people, we want to get some of our kids out of our house. You know. Bless it. Oh, sorry. I do. You know, we want, there's so many young professionals that work in this city, and they may not be ready for a single family home of their own. Even a starter home, a bungalow or something, or even for seniors, well, we have some bungalows coming in District 7. Stay tuned. But even for seniors that want to downsize, you know, we have to diversify stock. And when people talk about what I'm telling you what people say, people say that their property values will diminish if you bring apartments, if there'll be crime and all this other stuff, not realizing that by having a diversity in housing stock, that it actually will it'll settle out the high property, what houses are selling for. They're really high right now because there's a high demand. But when you create more inventory, it helps level that out. And so with all that being said, it's kind of difficult for us to try to figure out what do we say to residents and how do we prioritize these types of funds because you said you want to hear what residents, what their ideas are. First we have to come to a level set so that they understand from a national perspective what we're trying to achieve as cities and what is equitable and what will be helpful to the growing population that we have. And I'll pause.

Yeah, so what you bring up is very common in most cities. When you want to build up, and you're right, what does that do for them? It increases the tax base, which then increases the city's ability to provide services to the new developments and also to them. So it does benefit them directly when you have greater absorption, more density. But I think you have a unique situation. You're right. You're a single family or maybe a designated zoning that permits only small density types of things. You might have, like all cities have, not in my backyard, don't put that big building back there. It's going to block my view. It's going to create infrastructure issues. It's a fine line, but definitely through zoning, through policy, through small growing techniques, you might want to look at your zoning policies and see how you can encourage affordability by raising a little bit of the density. But you're right, you're not unique. You're unique that you do have a very unique layout of home ownership in the city, but not in the troubles that you're having to grow a little bit.

Thank you so much.

It appears that we have no more questions from the council. Mr. Clerk, that concludes your presentation at this time. Thank you. Mr. Clerk, can you please sound the next item?

Yes, ma'am. That brings us to the proclamation presentations portion of this meeting. We do have four presentations, with the first one being Say Twin Communicator Award.

We're going to switch it up really quick, and we're going to recognize Mr. Kerry Good first. Okay.

Letter B, proclamation recognizing Kerry Good during ALS Awareness Month, sponsored by Councilmember Sebastian and the full council.

Thank you. I think we did. I feel like I'm gonna blast around.

I always know how to spot out them Cubans. It's Cuban, huh?

All right.

Good evening, everyone. It's an honor for me and this council to present this proclamation to I'm Mr. Kerry Good in this LS Awareness Month of May. I've been wanting to do this for a couple years, but I finally have gotten around to it, so thank you, Tanju, for your patience. And I am going to read this as such and then get some help from my colleagues here. Whereas amyotropic lateral sclerosis alis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, gradually robbing individuals of their ability to walk, speak, eat, and breathe, while their cognitive abilities often remains unaffected and,

I hope you got all the big words. Whereas ALS impacts thousands of individuals and families across the United States each year, creating emotional, physical, and financial challenges that require unwavering strength, community support, medical advocacy, and increased public awareness.

Whereas raising awareness about ALS is essential to advancing research, improving quality of care, supporting caregivers, and fostering hope for those who are courageously battling this disease, and... Do you know anything else? Come on, Ms. Linda. Go ahead.

Whereas Kerry Good, a former University of Alabama player and former NFL running back and coach, has exemplified extraordinary resilience, leadership, and perseverance throughout his life, both on and off the field. During his professional football career, Kerry demonstrated excellence, discipline, and determination as an athlete, later transitioning into coaching where he mentored and inspired countless youth athletes through his commitment to integrity character development and hard work and whereas in 2015 carrie was diagnosed with als and was given only two years to live

Yet through unwavering faith, courage, and determination, he has defied the odds and now celebrates 10 years of living with ALS, becoming a living testament to strength, endurance, and hope. Despite facing paralysis and the loss of his speech, Kerry has continued to inspire communities across the nation through advocacy, awareness efforts, and his unwavering commitment to encouraging others impacted by ALS.

Whereas as founder of the Good Foundation with his wife, Tanya, they have worked diligently to support ALS patients and their families by promoting awareness, providing resources, encouraging compassion and reminding others of the importance of faith, family unity and community support during life's most difficult challenges.

All right. And whereas Carrie Good's life and legacy continues to serve as a beacon of hope and inspiration, demonstrating that true greatness is not defined by adversity, but by courage, faith, and determination to rise above it. Now, therefore, be proclaimed that the mayor and the city council of the city of South Fulton do hereby recognize, commend, and honor Kerry Good during ALS Awareness Month of May for his courageousness, advocacy, inspirational resilience, leadership, and dedicated service, and do by here proclaim Tuesday, May 26, 2026, as Kerry Good Appreciation Day in the city of South Fulton, Georgia. Congratulations.

Good evening. Mayor Gumbs, council members, Councilman Jesse Sebastian of District 4, distinguished guests, family, friends, and everyone here tonight. I am deeply honored and truly grateful to receive this proclamation from the City of South Fulton in recognition of ALS Awareness Month. This moment means more than words can fully express. I want to personally thank the Mayor Gumbs, every member of the City Council, and especially Councilman Jesse Sebastian for extending this offer and foreseeing the importance of shining a light on ALS. When a city pauses to recognize a cause like this, it reminds every family fighting this disease that they are not forgotten, they are not invisible, and they are not fighting alone. ALS is a hard road. It challenges the body, the mind, the family, and the spirit. But what ALS cannot take is purpose. It cannot take faith, it cannot take love, and it cannot take away the power of a community that chooses to stand together. I am grateful that the City of South Fulton is recognizing not just me, but the work of the Terry Goode Foundation. Our mission has always been about helping families, raising awareness, offering hope, and reminding people that even in difficult seasons, there is still work to do and lives to touch. But I want to be clear. This honor does not belong to me alone. This proclamation belongs to every worker, every volunteer, every donor, every supporter, and every person who has given their time, energy, prayers, and heart to help us serve the community. They are the hands and feet behind the mission, and we are not finished. On June 13th, Our workers and volunteers will be on full display at Canongate Golf Club in Sharpsburg as we continue this mission through the Cary Good Foundation. I invite everyone to go to our website for details at goodfoundation.org and learn how you can be part of what we are doing. To the City of South Fulton, thank you for this honor. Thank you for your compassion. Thank you for using your platform to bring awareness to ALS. This proclamation is more than paper. It is encouragement. It is hope. It is a reminder that when community, faith, and purpose come together, we can make a difference. From the bottom of my heart, thank you, and may God bless the city of South Fulton.

Next proclamation will be a presentation of the comprehensive plan recognition by Assistant City Manager Davis and Director McClendon.

No, it's not a proclamation. It's a presentation.

So how about this? Let's do the police first and then we come to close y'all out. How about that? Since we can sit down and truly enjoy the presentation. Okay. Come on, one more time. so they can see y'all pretty outfits.

So next presentation will be proclamation recognizing Say Twin social media campaign.

All right.

Are y'all going to come up?

That's everybody. Come on, twins. Y'all can't go anywhere. Well, y'all got Jubal.

They're asking for Carter, but I told them they got you. I think it's everybody.

All right, y'all look good. So we actually have two presentations, but this one is recognizing the Say Twin social media campaign. So whereas the South Fulton Police Department launched the nationally recognized Say Twins social media campaign to modernize public safety messaging, strengthen community trust, and enhance engagement with residents and

Whereas the campaign generated more than 74 million views and expanded the department's social media audience from 17,000 to more than 137,000 followers. That means an applause, applause for that. Elevating the visibility of the South Fulton Police Department on a national scale and

Whereas they love Councilwoman Beall, the campaign received recognition from major media outlets, including People Magazine, the New York Post, ABC World News Tonight, and every local Atlanta media outlet, while also earning national honors through the prestigious Communicate Awards, including an Award of Excellence and two Awards of Distinction.

And whereas the success of the campaign reflects the city of South Fulton's commitment to innovation, transparency, and strengthening relationships between law enforcement and the community.

Let me read it.

Now, therefore, it be proclaimed that the mayor and city council of the city of South Fulton hereby recognizes the South Fulton Police Department for its outstanding achievement in public communication, community engagement, and innovative leadership through the success of the Say Twin campaign. Congratulations. Are we still taking a picture?

Take it first? I don't know. Yeah, we can take it first. Come on. All right. Everybody join in. Yeah. Counsel, can you come up a little bit? And then we'll have some people join behind. And then we'll have some people join behind.

There we go.

OK, on this side, let's join in. All right, that's perfect. Come over just a little bit.

Right there.

All right, that's perfect. Everybody's looking right here. One, two, three. And one more time. One, two, three. Congratulations.

So this award would not have been possible without the buy-in from the entire police department, mayor, council. And this was a strategy that we decided to take a chance on. It was unique, it was innovative, it was young, and it was an effort to humanize our officers in this community. And you guys have all hopefully visited our social media page if you haven't already. Join in on the fun, the community connection, and we're just grateful for the support you guys all gave us to help empower it, make it bigger, and to see our officers in more than just a badge. So that was always the goal. So thank you, Dr. Alexander, for also being a champion behind the scenes to help get the message across that this was something good for the community. So we're grateful.

Thank you. Dr. Alexander, when they say, say 20, what do you say? Did you want to say anything?

No, ma'am. I think Tori did a great job explaining it all to us. And I want to thank everybody, even in the community, to be very supportive. Because y'all make this a success, too. Every time you move the message around, these guys, they just do such a tremendous job every day.

They can't go anywhere in the nation without somebody saying, hey, twin. I think y'all were in D.C. Somebody sent me a, it was like, your police are up here? Yeah, y'all can't do anything, so. I appreciate it. So we're also recognizing them for their heroic actions. For this police department, they do a lot. And that's why you see our council as supportive as they are. So I'm going to start with these two council members that weren't able to. You can't read? OK. Do you want to start?

Sure.

Because I have no voice. OK. Whereas members of the South Fulton Police Department responded to a military veteran experiencing a severe mental health crisis and threatening self-harm, requiring immediate decisive intervention to protect life and, Keep going, OK. Whereas recognizing the urgency of the situation, responding officers acted courageously and compassionately by making the difficult but necessary decision to force entry into the closet in order to safely reach the individual and provide emergency assistance. And whereas through their professionalism, empathy, and swift actions, the officers Ensure the veteran received critical medical attention and transportation to a Veterans Affairs hospital for treatment and whereas the action of these officers reflect the South Fulton Police Department's unwavering commitment to protecting human life, supporting those in crisis, and honoring the service and sacrifice of our nation's veterans.

Now, therefore, be proclaimed that the mayor and the city council of the city of South Fulton hereby recognize and commend Major Jubal Rogers, Lieutenant Lance Wood, Sergeant Dan, how do you pronounce this, Dan Brill Walker, Police Officer 2 Courtney Richardson, Police Officer 2 Donnell Demins, Demons, I'm sorry. Police Officer Two, Herbert Allen Jr., Police Officer Two, Brandon Quarterman, and Police Officer Two, Sanaya Anderson, for their heroic actions, compassion, professionalism, and dedication to serving the community during a moment of critical need. Thank you very much for your service and congratulations. I do want to take a moment of personal privilege and recognize Major Jubal, who just graduated with your master's. That's also your partner in crime, Nick Captain Williams, as well. So if you want to say a few words.

Um, so thank you mayor council for recognizing the officers who responded to a Jacoby, uh, who was in a crisis. Um, so about 8% of our population, the city of South Fulton are veterans. Excuse me, sir. Excuse me. It's not a lot of places to stand. So about 8% of our population, the city of South Fulton are veterans. So we realize the sacrifices that they have made, the courage that they display every day. And when they take that uniform off, the burdens that they carry are not gone, right? So when we responded to that call for service, we showed Jacobi compassion. We called his sister. We called his mom. We wanted to make sure that he was able to get the services at the Veteran Affairs that he deserved and wanted to make sure that our officers, they have obtained CIT training, which was mandated by the department. So we just want to make sure that the efforts that they exuded that day is just a testament to the work that they do.

So I can actually testify as to the exemplary work that this police department does in these situations. On July 28, 2024, and the reason I remember that day is because it was my father's birthday, there was a veteran across the street from my house and he was having a psychotic episode where he didn't even recognize his own mother. And the police department came out and they dealt with him. so empathetically, so compassionately, and had Grady Hospital. And everything worked out so well. Even his family was very happy about how he was treated. And on that day, I actually cried because it was just so compassionate, so kind, the way that our officers treat our residents. And for that, I'm always grateful. Thank you.

Dr. Alexander, did you want to share anything? Any other council members? All right. Thank you so much for your work. Y'all ready to take a picture?

One more time.

so so public works you they said no one came for them so they just wanted you to mention it during your accounts okay all right we're about to sit down so they can give us a presentation

Madam Mayor, is CDRA free to go?

right thank you madam mayor and members of council um this um is not a proclamation this is more of a um really a recognition and i really want to thank you all for indulging us um in in doing so but the recognition of our of the official passage of our comprehensive plan process uh and so um we have some staff members here today and some community members that we really wanted to recognize And once again, thank you for indulging me in that. I did what I never do, and I actually wrote my remarks for this because I didn't want to leave anything out. But I know we're trying to get some other proclamations, so we're going to get through it as quickly as we can. All right, so tonight we officially celebrate an important milestone for the future of the city of South Fulton, the successful passage of the 2026 Comprehensive Plan. This plan has been reviewed and approved by the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and we have received official certification of our qualified local government status. All right, so as you all know, every city and county in the state of Georgia has to adopt a comprehensive plan and update it every five years. This plan represents more than policy and planning documents. It reflects a shared vision for growth, opportunity, connectivity, and quality of life for our residents and businesses for years to come. A project of this magnitude is only possible through collaboration and leadership and meaningful community engagement. This evening, we proudly recognize the many individuals and groups whose dedication, professionalism, and commitment made this achievement possible. First, I want to extend special recognition to our fearless leader, our Madam City Manager, Sharon Subedan. Her commitment to strategic growth and operational excellence helped ensure this plan remained focused, inclusive, and forward-looking. This council expressed that it was a top priority to ensure that this plan was updated in a manner that did not just continue the prior Fulton County framework, but reflected the growth identity and promise of the city of South Fulton. that end we embarked on a planning process that took just under two full calendar years from the issuance of our rfp for consultants to the final approval of the plan this outcome is truly community driven professionally developed and future focused the plan is designed to reflect and incorporate the numerous planning processes that preceded the plan such as the Economic Development Strategic Plan, the Old National Highway LCI Plan, South Fulton Strategic Plan, the Southern Fulton Comprehensive Transportation Plan, the Aerotropolis Greenway Plan, the Atlanta Regional Commission Arts and Placemaking Plan, among many others. The plan has revised and revamped our future land use categories and definitions, and we have added focus areas for entertainment centers, agribusiness, innovative studio and production, and riverfront development. Over the course of the planning process, the city conducted an extensive and inclusive public engagement effort. I think you'll be hard pressed to find a community engagement effort that was as robust as ours. It included two public hearings in front of this council, three planning commission sessions, seven core team workshops, three pop-up meetings, and 12 community-wide meetings designed to gather meaningful input from residents and stakeholders. Also, we launched a standalone website to further engage the community virtually. Through these efforts, we hosted many hundreds of residents in person and many hundreds more virtually, and we received over 1,000 comments and responses and recommendations. And underlying all of this engagement were countless hours of meetings and conversations and analysis performed by our consultants and our professional planning staff members. Additional engagement meetings were held with the members of the agricultural community and the business community to ensure that the comprehensive plan reflected the needs, perspectives, and priorities of South Fulton's economic drivers, land owners, and entrepreneurs. In addition, the planning team met individually with each council member, and we toured all of your council districts, and these tours provided a valuable firsthand insight into the unique opportunities, priorities, challenges, and character of each area of the city of South Fulton. So today, we say thank you. We proudly recognize the members of our Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee for their leadership, insight, and dedication throughout this process. This steering committee was comprised of members representing Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, the City of South Fulton Department of Economic Development, South Fulton Planning Commission, the South Fulton Zoning Board of Appeals, Fulton County Schools, the Fulton Industrial Boulevard Improvement District, and residents that were appointed by members of City Council. I want to name and recognize those individuals that were on the steering committee. Mr. Greg Bailey, Dr. Tony Blackshear, Lamont Carr, Patrick Ewing, Pamela Harvey, Sarah Elizabeth Lankford, Tia McCoy, Mercedes Miller, Karen Norris, Tarika Peeks, Keith Perry, Gil Prado, Alvin Reynolds, Micah Richards, and Marcia Steele. Thank you to the members of that committee. Their thoughtful collaboration helped shape the plan that reflects the values and priorities of the City of South Fulton. We want to express an appreciation for the South Fulton Planning Commission, And a special thanks also extended to our dedicated staff members across departments who supported research, coordination, logistics, outreach, communications, and technical planning efforts. Some of those staff members are here with us tonight. They're wearing these green shirts so that you can know that they support us. Tonight, we especially recognize the residents of the City of South Fulton who participated in workshops, surveys, listening sessions, pop-up events, and public feedback opportunities. Finally, we offer a sincere appreciation for the venues, community partners, and organizations that graciously hosted public engagement meetings and provided welcoming spaces for dialogue and collaboration throughout this process. These include the South Fulton Department of Parks and Recreation, the award-winning, of course, the Economic Development Department, the Public Affairs Department, Cultural Affairs Department, and the Elegant Occasions Event Center. And I want to end this presentation with how I should have started this presentation, which is the title of our plan. The title of our comprehensive plan is Thrive South Fulton, So why the theme thrive? Recent studies and census data, you might have heard this over the last week, have shown that zip codes, certain zip codes above I-20 when compared to zip codes below I-20 can have as much as a 20 year gap in life expectancy. So what we did was we looked to build a plan that focused around Blue Zone principles such as promoting healthy environments, walkability, and connection to nature. We wanted a plan that acknowledged the health outcomes of our planning decisions so that our citizens aren't simply living in South Fulton, but thriving in South Fulton. Finally, I want to say that on a personal note, I really kind of took a backseat during the management of this planning process to focus on the day-to-day operations of the department. So to our zoning administrator, Matthew Williams, and to our assistant city manager, Carmen Davis, You deserve all of the thanks and recognition. So the passage of this plan marks an important step towards building a stronger, more connected and more prosperous South Fulton. Congratulations and thank you for everyone who contributed to this moment. All right, thanks. And if anybody has any questions or comments, please let us know. You all have swag bags and gift bags. Oh, y'all want to take a picture if you should so choose to. But thank you very much.

What did he say?

If there is no objection, we can recess into executive session for cybersecurity, real estate, litigation, and personnel. Did I get all four? There's no objection. All right.

We're recessed at 6.27 p.m.

Thank you all for waiting. We are coming back from executive session. All right, Mr. Clerk, we have a quorum. If there's no objection, we will reconvene from the executive session. Mr. Clerk, were there any actions taken in the executive session?

Yes, Madam Mayor, members of council, it's my understanding that there was an action taken in the executive session that requires a vote, which is the approval of the settlement agreement with Van Diver Lakes.

All right.

Motion to approve.

Second. It has been moved and properly seconded. Can I get a show of hands?

Court that motion approved 4-0.

All right. Is there anything else?

No, ma'am. That was the only action that required a public vote.

All right. If there is no objection, we will now adjourn. all right we will now open up our next regular meeting for city council may 26 2026 at 7 pm mr clerk can you please sound the roll oh i'm sorry i keep forgetting please run thank you for joining us live for the city of south fulton city council meeting

We are proud to introduce the leadership entrusted with guiding our city forward. Mayor Carmelita Gons. District 1 Councilwoman, Dr. Catherine Rao. District 2 Councilman, Aaron V. Johnson. District 4 Councilman, J.C. Sebastian. Mayor Pro Tem, Keosha D. Bell. District 6 Councilwoman, Natasha Williams Brown District 7 Councilwoman, Linda Becker Pritchett Supporting the work of this body in the operations of our city are City Clerk, Corey Adams City Manager, Sharon D. Subedar and Interim City Attorney, Sarah Kelly Thank you for being the best part of the city of South Fulton, a city on the rise.

All right, Mr. Clerk, please sound the roll.

Roll call for this evening's regular meeting. The Honorable Catherine F. Ryle, District 1.

Present.

The Honorable Aaron V. Johnson, District 2.

Present.

The Honorable JC Sebastian, District 4. Here. The Honorable Keosha B. Bell, District 5.

Present. Present.

The Honorable Natasha Williams-Brown, District 6.

Present.

Present. The Honorable Linda B. Pritchett, District 7.

Here.

And the Honorable Mayor Carmelita Gumbs.

Here.

Madam Mayor, you have a quorum.

Mr. Clark, please sound the next item.

Next item is invocation by our city chaplain. Yes, ma'am.

of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, individual with liberty and justice for all.

All right. Thank you. Mr. Clerk, can you please sound the next item?

Madam Mayor, that brings us to the adoption of the council agenda. I do have one addition that needs to be added, which is a special event for June 27th from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Southwest Arts Center by South Fulton Homebuyers Workshop, placed on the agenda by Mayor Gumbs.

Okay. And we also have two changes where we will be – Tabling two items.

Yes, ma'am. So the council would like to Table items Under 11 a Number one, which is the secondary request council proven ordinance of the city of South Fulton Georgia to amend title 15 to prohibit unauthorized public camping TO DEFINE CAMPING AND RELATED TERMS TO ESTABLISH NOTICE REMOVAL AND STORAGE PROCEDURES TO PROVIDE ENFORCEMENT AND DOCUMENTATION REQUIREMENTS TO PROTECT HEALTH, SAFETY, AND ACCESS TO PUBLIC SPACES. THAT ITEM IS TABLE AS WELL AS ITEM NUMBER TWO, WHICH IS SECOND READ, QUESTION COUNCIL APPROVAL OF ORDERS TO ESTABLISH STANDARDIZED PROTOCOLS FOR THE PLANNING, COORDINATION, AND CONDUCT OF CITY-SPONSORED SPECIAL EVENTS. to define roles and participation eligibility to provide for recognition of elected officials to establish enforcement mechanisms. Those are the two items that are tabled until the July 1st meeting.

I recognize Councilwoman Pritchett at this time.

Mr. Clerk, when you added on an item about a home buying seminar, what was the date for that? 27th June 27th, yeah, so I saw okay June 27 and What time and where? 9 a.m. To 12 p.m. At the Southwest Arts Center This this event is being sponsored by who me the mayor so I we're supposed to be somewhere else, but you're okay. And then, um, uh, where's, uh, Dr Cooper, Dr Cooper, can you confirm if there are any other events that are happening on that day? We've already confirmed. It's all right. My question is, are there any other events in the city on that date?

There are no events that would conflict with that event, no. But there are other things going on, like an exhibit and different things of that nature, but nothing that would conflict.

Okay. Thank you.

Okay. There are no objections. The agenda is adopted as noted with the changes. Any objections? Mr. Clark, please sound the next item.

I'm sorry. Councilman morale has her hand up.

I just wanted to bring to the attention of council that if the GMA convention in Savannah, I'm aware I'm traveling at evening to go to Savannah.

All right. If there are no further objections, the agenda is amended as noted. Mr. Clerk, please send the next item.

So it brings us to Roman numeral six request approval of council regular meeting minutes for may 12th, 2026 work session minutes, may 12th, 2026 and alcohol zoning public hearing minutes, may 12th, 2026.

all right are there any objections to the minutes there are no objections to the there are no objections to the minutes we will adopt this by gross unanimous consent all right mr clerk please sound the next item that brings us to consent agenda items a through f If there is no objections, the consent agenda is adopted by unanimous consent. Mr. Clerk, please sound the next item.

From this enrollment number eight, alcohol license rezoning variance and modification cases for motion and vote. Letter A is a second reading to request council approval of a zoning ordinance for case Z26-002, an application by Mike Lee, care of Wee Partner Group, LLC, request to rezone it from AG1 to CUP to develop 35 single family homes on 15 acres at 4700 Welcome Hall Road. It's located in City Council District 3.

staff recommendations denial planning commission recommendations approval conditional all right so with the staff recommendation if there is no objection to item 8a we're going to do 8a right now okay is there any objections that we're going to accept the staff's recommendation All right, the action. So we're going to deny? Can I have a motion, please? A motion to deny. It has been moved and properly seconded. Can I get this by a show of hands?

Court that motion approved 5-0 to deny. She has not raised her hand.

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Are you weighing in?

Just want to make sure I have the same thing. Deny.

That makes the vote 6-0 to deny.

All right. Let's move to item 8B.

8B is request council approval for zoning resolution for case M26-002, located at 0, 7,000, 6,200, 6190 Coweta, and 5075 Dodson Road. Betting Court Construction LLC care about a law requesting a modification to the site plan associated with zoning KZ 25-020 CUP zoning district to reduce the minimum lot size to 6,600 square feet and remove multiple lots from the 70-foot strain buffer and require buffers around the perimeter of the property to develop 293 single-family detached homes on 130.19 acres located in City Council District 4. Staff recommendation is approval.

Can I get a motion?

Motion to approve.

It has been moved and properly seconded. There's discussion. Is there any planning? Let's see here. Planning Commission recommendations? I don't see that.

For modifications, they don't go to Planning Commission. Okay.

All right, perfect. All right, let's carry the vote. Can I get a show of hands?

To approve. Dr. Rao? Approved. That was approved unanimously, 6-0. All right.

Mr. Clark, please sound the next item.

That brings us to public comment. Comments regarding zoning cases will not be allowed. Speakers will be granted a total of two minutes each, and public comments will not exceed 30 minutes. Speakers will not be allowed to yield or donate their time to other speakers. Speakers must identify themselves and their addresses prior to speaking. Speakers may only address the presiding officer. She'll observe all rules of decorum. No debate, disrespect, or obscenities shall be tolerated. The presiding officer shall rule any such individual out of order that fails to comply with the foregoing. those rules read into the record we do have a number of speakers this afternoon as I call your name please approach the center microphone and as stated state your name address a district that you reside in and you have two minutes so Brandon Fulton Joyce Carol Joe Francis Williams Mike Johnson, and Kimberly King. Please come in that order.

Brandon Fulton, address 3332 Butner Road. I have an issue with the fire and police department. Terry came to the property. He was there with two engines. They never entered the property for the so-called Let's Fire. The only thing he asked me was who was leaving my driveway. and then he started to pursue the people that was leaving my driveway. On foot in the industrial, he pulled them over with two other officers, patrol cars, searched the vehicle, took pictures of their ID, then returned back to my property to ask me for my ID. The vehicle that was leaving the property were people that was associated with what I'm trying to do over there. He even asked them how do they know me, how much money they was paying me, so forth. He wasn't even concerned about the fire for the safety of the community. Also, I was detained that day because I didn't give my ID, which I don't legally have to give my ID, especially if you got me on foot. I'm not obligated to have my ID in my pocket, and you must tell me what the crime is before you ask anybody for their ID. The body cam is out. I certified mail. their manager, city attorney, Ms. Gumbs, and I just met Cedric. So I'm here to let everybody know I have the formal complaint here. I just want y'all to kill the ticket because it was for nothing. They come to my property quickly and they don't follow protocol. You know, it's all about respect. So I don't know if I'm allowed to give y'all the formal complaint now. Give it to the clerk. Yes, everybody's on board. and hopefully we can resolve it. Approach him now.

Next is Joyce Carroll.

Hi, my name is Joyce Carroll. I'm a resident of South Fulton, District 2. My address is 4725 Walton Crossing. I'm here today because I'm just a little concerned about what happened with the white party that was given. First of all, I'd like to thank the mayor and Aaron Johnson for doing this for seniors. They do it every year. It's usually really nice. I was there. We had a really good time. They even made sure that they had golf carts getting us back and forth. And I was really upset when I looked at the news and they made a big issue or there was nobody campaigning, nobody was doing anything about elections or anything. And my question is, if this was a big concern, you would think this being on the calendar and the election board and all of them knew about it, why did they wait the last minute to tell the mayor to cancel something like this that she usually do every year for all of us? You know, she's looking out for the seniors. There's some seniors that are locked up in their house or their apartment. They don't go anywhere. And something like this is really appreciated by them. Because I've had several people tell me how nice it was and how it makes us feel. So I was just wondering why something like this even got to the news. being that they knew it was on the calendar, and then they wait the last minute to tell her to cancel. But I'd like to thank the mayor and Erin Johnson for not canceling this. It was a beautiful event, and thank you, and I hope you can keep it up. Thank you very much.

Good evening. Am I supposed to do anything with this?

Okay.

All right. Thank you. Good evening. Good evening, madam mayor and council members. My name is Joe Francis Williams and I live at 4725 Walton crossing Southwest and in the city of South Fulton, I attended the white affair at welcome all park on May 15th, 2026. This is an event I have looked forward to for the past three years. It gives me an opportunity to dress up, socialize with my peers and enjoy good food, music, and dance in a positive environment. I saw on the news that there was criticism because the city of South Fulton was hosting a celebration while voting was going on. Must've been a slow news cycle. I don't know. And because attendees received gifts. My question is what's wrong with showing appreciation to the senior community? There was absolutely no election conversation by anyone on this council or at my table. We didn't know what was going on outside. In 2024, during general election, I worked the polls at that same location while other events going on at that same facility. In fact, we poll workers received bags of fruits and vegetables. Community events and civic responsibilities have successfully been coexisted before over there. I believe this situation is much ado about nothing. And unfortunately, some people simply want to betray the city in a negative light. The seniors in the community truly appreciate what you all do for us. Keep rising.

Joyce Carroll, Mike Johnson.

All right, Mike Johnson, District 4. So, you know, I ain't going to waste a whole lot of my time addressing that white affair event with the seniors, beautiful event. We love our seniors. Some of my family members are there. due diligence falls back on the event planners to make sure that they're following the law. It's just that simple. You do not escape due diligence. So everybody's talking about they love it, they like it. What you're basically doing is admitting that you've been breaking the law for years to follow, that you may have people in office Illegally, that's votes. We don't want to be doing stuff here in our city that's going to put us in a bad light. Be thankful that someone brought it up because there are other people outside of the city that are watching that. But I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on that. I want to get into something else here. I want to get into the PCARs of the beloved mayor here, Comrade Gumbs and Helen Willis. You know, you guys have spent money with a group called First Edition Strategies. It's an Atlanta-based political communication group firm specializing in data-driven messages, grassroots mobilizing and campaign management. Now, I got a copy of your P-card, and I can see here where, and Children's Strategy as well. Come later, you, on March 24th, 2025, you spent $2,000 with Children's Strategy. Why would you be spending money like that on a P-card for campaign expenditures? Helen Willis, on November the 18th, she spent $2,479.77, and it said for runoff vote. You're the only one that was in a runoff vote at that time. Now, this particular company was started by none other than Lucy Macbeth, campaign manager. And you'll get a chance to speak on it because I'm sure Lucy Macbeth did not turn you guys on to that to spend our taxpayer money. Madam Super Dan, someone need to take control of the wheel and lead and hold these people accountable. We expect that money back. Thank you.

Kimberly King.

Thank you. Good evening, Madam Mayor and City Council. Good evening. A happy dreary Tuesday. to speak on three quick things it's my understanding that uh the divine nine five cave which will be in our 11th year this year sorry my invisible assistant is not here um ask for your support when it comes to four years a walk-on item we've certainly enjoyed having this even in the city of south fulton first fulton county now the city of south fulton since since inception i look forward to seeing all you guys running through the finish tape like you're in the Peachtree or the Olympics. So just appreciate your support in advance for that. Number two, I want to make sure I mention somebody who has worked with me for years, Joan Troup, who you guys know as the admin manager in the city's Parks and Rec Department. sorority stuff, family stuff, anything I've ever wanted to do with the city or the county, Joan Troup is amazing. I'm not sure if she gets enough bells and whistles, but she is so pleasant, she's so informed, she's so easy to work with, and she really is very dedicated to the citizens, the county, and I just want to make sure, I told her, I got her permission. She said I could shout her out. And finally, I happened to vote on the Friday that you guys had the white party, and I do want to publicly thank the mayor, my councilman, Erin Johnson. I thought it was a great event. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. As a voter on that day, I didn't feel pressured, intimidated. It wasn't weird. I voted to welcome myself several times. And I do think, as my fellow citizens said a while back, it is much ado about nothing from, in my opinion, my professional opinion, if you know what I do, a journalist who always seems to find the half full lemonade for this particular city. But kudos for how we take care and love our citizens and our community. I think it's one of the many things that makes South Fulton special. So keep doing what you're doing. I look forward to seeing all you guys on Saturday, June 13th at the 11th, Divine 9, 5K, 9K. And I want all y'all to do the 9K. No excuses. Right? Leadership by example, right? And it's on tape, so thank you very much.

Thank you. Mr. Clerk, do we have any more comments?

No more comments. Madam Mayor, members of council, Ms. King did, we did miss that to add that to the agenda. I do have it listed for the Special event application for MPHC greater, Atlanta Not 5k 9k event at Wolf Creek on we changed the location on June 13th.

We did that we did that last because I remember before I Moved into the mayor's role. We approved it for a special event.

Yeah CDRA miss Mosley submitted an application that said this needed to be needed to be added and

This was for the, so you're talking about for the application? Okay, the application. So do we need to go back and amend? Yeah. Attorney.

Motion to rescind and then Okay, that's fine.

Never mind, we'll just bring it up on the walk-on. All right, Mr. Clark, can you please sound the next item?

Council comments.

All right, Council, let's start down at District 1.

Thank you for recognizing me. Just a couple of quick updates. We have a code enforcement workshop on tomorrow from 11 to 1 at Sandtown Recreation Center that's at 5370 Campbellton Road. We want to encourage residents from across the city to come out, learn about our city ordinances and how to work with code enforcement and how to help us maintain a beautiful city. Chocolate Block is coming up Saturday, May 30th at the Southwest Arts Center. It'll be a great afternoon, live art, bouncy houses, game truck, face painting, and auto trimming. So please come out. You can register online. That flyer has been in my newsletter, but you can also find it on the city's Facebook page. Tomorrow's the last day to sign up for both curbside trash pickup, which will be the first week in June. I want to encourage you to use the process. You can either call 770-554-0455 or use the online request form. And that concludes my announcement.

Thank you, Dr. Rowe. I hope you feel better. Councilman Johnson.

All right. Thank you, madam mayor. I only have a couple of announcements, but I'm excited about them. Uh, Wolf Creek summer reading is starting in June. So, uh, our kids have a phenomenal opportunity, uh, run the block. The South Fulton run club five K is this Saturday, May 30th at 8 00 AM. Um, sponsored by several sponsors, including the big peach run club, As Kimberly mentioned, I was going to bring it up, the D9 5K, 9K, and we'll be doing 1K. Just don't forget that. And we'll be walking across the line. I don't think we're going to be doing a lot of running early. But that, again, is Saturday, June 13th at 8 a.m. As most of you know, we won't be having meetings in the month of June. So make sure you come out to Wolf Creek Amphitheater and enjoy some great concerts in the month of June. We have our Southern Soul concert, which is June the 6th. And then y'all coming to that, right? I know you've got to come to that. And then, of course, our Juneteenth celebration, which is Sunday, June 14th. I've been saying Saturday all this time, but make sure you come on Sunday, Sunday, June 14th. I want to say congratulations to all of our recent graduates. We've all been going to several graduations over the last couple of weeks. Our kids are doing some amazing things. You see, you see in here, uh, some unfortunate things said about our children, but I got to see firsthand all the great things that they're doing and the millions and millions of dollars in scholarships. Our kids headed to the military, our kids doing other things. One young man actually has already started a business, so he's going to it full time. It is just so many amazing things that our kids in South Fulton are doing, and we have to always remember to recognize them. And with that, I'm going to take a moment of personal privilege to highlight one particular kid who happens to be mine, Aaron Miles Johnson. He graduated. Uh, we just got back yesterday. His mom got back this morning from Brown university where he graduated with a master's in public health. So yes, I think he's watching right now. So I appreciate the clap for him, but he is one of the kids from Westlake high school, right here, born and raised right here in South Fulton. And he's doing amazing things. And I'm not just saying that because he's my child, but I'm saying that because he's my child. That's it, Madam Mayor. Thank you.

Congratulations. All right. District four. Councilman Sebastian.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I echo the sentiments around graduations from my colleague from the second district. I had a chance to attend four graduation ceremonies last couple of weeks. Honestly, it got very, very real to me. If you really want to see what your responsibility is as an elected official, sit in one of those graduations and watch all those kids come through. They represent our future. They represent actions that we have to take in order to create a city that they're going to be proud of and they can live here, find work, employment, love, and culture. So yes, we have kids who are doing some amazing things. And yes, congratulations to my own son, Jeremy, who finished high school. He's not been to Brown yet. my last child through high school. We must say that our last child, cause that's mommy's baby, you know, but, um, I'm looking forward to a very bright future for him. Um, with regards to some things that are happening in the fourth district, thank you staff. And thank you to representatives, um, Robert Dawson and Lydia Glaze, and also Sandra Kemp. and Madam Superdan for coming to last week's town hall and giving very valuable insight as to what has happened on the dome and some things that are coming up. So if you haven't heard about that special session, please pay a lot of attention. They're going back onto the dome with the intention of changing and redistricting again. So please keep in touch. And when actions are called for by our legislators, please help them out. You know, they're there to represent us and our voices behind them helps a lot. June, as we passed last meeting, is Men's Health and Wellness Month in the city of South Fulton. So on the 6th of June, Saturday, we have our Men's Health and Wellness Rally at Fire Station 6. That is 6720 Cedar Grove Road, starting at 11 and ending at about 3 p.m. and we're encouraging the men to come and get tested. We're doing this in partnership with Representative Lydia Glaze and also with Grady. Aaron, your pastor's gonna be there, so you should be in the house, right? That's Pastor Pallard. We're going to have Bishop Lackey there, and we're going to have Dr. Marshall Taggart as well, and DJ Smoke is going to be on site spinning some records, if they do still spin records. All right, but I am looking forward to this event where we can get some free testing, have some fellowship, and share some food and some conversations around men's health and wealth. This week coming up on Thursday is our annual, not our annual, our monthly farmer's market. We're praying for some mercies from the rain. But this Thursday at the, as we call it, the green zone right there off Salt Fulton Parkway and Cedar Grove Road. It starts at 4 p.m. So, at the Village Shops in Cedar Grove at 6000 Lynnmark Way is our farmer's market this Thursday. And this is probably my only chance I'm gonna get to say this since we're off in June. But Sling Fest, Three Wheel Mania, Atlanta is back this year again. It is one of the largest events that happened within our district and district four at Wilkerson Mill Park. And it's a three day event and it starts on June 26th and run all weekend. And yeah, I know that GMA is that weekend, so some of you are gonna miss some of the fun this year. We tried to avoid the conflict, but we weren't able to do that this year. So again, once again, I'm looking forward to Slingfest Three Wheel Mania this year. It is one of the largest things that grow and come here and fill these three hotels that we have down here in District 7. Right? So continue to support these folks that come into Old City at least for a weekend and spend some money and enjoy all the good things that they have to offer. And I believe the Friday night we're going to be at 50 Yard Line. Saturday there's going to be some stuff happening all day at Wilkinson Mill Park. And also I believe at Friday evening at Wilkinson Mill Park as well. Follow me on social media or sign up for my newsletter. If you need to get more about this, email me, jc.sebastian at cityofsouthfullertonga.gov or go to the website. And you can go to the city's website and find me somewhere there under the list of government people. All right. Thank you all very much and have a good June because we'll see you all back in July.

Thank you, Councilman Sebastian. Congratulations again. District 5, where they keep it live, Mary Pro Temp.

Thank you. And good evening, everybody. Thank you all for coming out and tuning in live. Again, to echo the sentiments from my colleagues, congratulations to all the graduates in the city of South Fulton, near and far. I think I have attended over 11 graduations from preschool to doctorates at Clark Atlanta, all high schools. So congratulations, congratulations, congratulations to the parents. Congratulations as well. Because not only is it success for the student, it's a great success for the parents and their hard work. And every journey starts with a step, so each of them have taken theirs towards success. So, again, congratulations. I do want to give special thanks to all of the residents who participated and came out to the District 5, our quarterly town hall meeting, and community meeting on last week. Special thanks to Celine with the Atlanta Regional Commission who came in and was able to provide a lot of great information and education as it relates to data centers. kind of getting rid of the myths and telling the truth as it relates to data centers. I also want to give kudos and thanks to our city manager, Sharon Subedan, as well as our city of South Wharton Fire Department, especially our wonderful Chief Jones for coming out and speaking with the residents as we plan for the future for the fire station, potential proposal for repurposing. So thank you so much to all the residents that came out twice for a town hall and a community meeting. Thank you for being engaged. Thank you for bringing your feedback and thank you for giving me an opportunity to listen. Second of all, as we gear up for District 5, well we are keeping it live in District 5, we are gearing up for our Recycle and Shred event which is scheduled for Saturday, June the 6th. It will be at the Burdette Park Tennis Center parking lot from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. So go ahead and start gathering your items to shred as well as recycle and meet us there on Saturday, June the 6th. We are also gearing up for a free one-week camp. This is in partnership with the Tommy Nobis Center. It will be at Burdette Park Tennis Center from June the 8th through the 12th. And this camp is specifically for individuals with disabilities or exceptional needs. ages 16 to 21, and it is free for residents in our city. So if you have a child who has an IEP, if you as a parent are able to complete the required paperwork, then we would love to welcome your son or daughter to this one-week free camp, again, at Burdette Park Tennis Center from June the 8th through the 12th. It will include two free field trips, and it's entirely free to all of the parents, but it is for ages 16 to 21. The information or more information can be found in my newsletter as well as on my Councilwoman Keosha B. Bale page on Facebook and Instagram, where you'll have the opportunity to scan the QR code. We did this a few years ago. It was a two-week camp, and now we're offering it back up to our residents for a one-week camp. So please sign up. Spaces are limited. Do not wait until the last minute. because you will be left out, unfortunately. And as my colleagues mentioned, we're out for the month of June, but I do want to see you on June 13th. This is our third annual Bell's Rhythms Revealed, a night of jazz, R&B, art, and spoken word. Think of it as the juke joint at Burdette Park. for all the adults and all of my season elite. This is an opportunity for you to come out safe. We have great food by Dots and Pearls catering. We'll have dinner. We'll have dancing. We have Indigo Cat Soul Band, Grammy Award-winning Q Parker, and Grande Beauty, well-known spoken word artists. So come on out, bring the hubby, bring the boo, and come on out with your friends and family on June the 13th from 6.30 to 9.30 p.m. at Burdette Park. And then last but not least, if you are not receiving our newsletter, please feel free. My assistant is in the back, Phillip Whatley. You can definitely reach out to our office or send us an email so that we can include you on all of our newsletter events and community updates so that you can stay engaged. As always, thank you, and we look forward to seeing you around our birthday in July, cancer season.

Big shout out to the cancers. All right, moving on to District 6, Councilwoman Natasha Williams-Brown.

Cancers are all right, but we all know that Virgos are the best. Virgos rule. Okay. First and foremost, as always, I have to start by thanking Parks and Rec, our police department, and all of the volunteers that came out to assist with the monthly food distribution at Creel Park. We were able to service over 200 families that are experiencing food insecurity and as grocery prices continue to rise, you know, certainly want to encourage everyone if you know of somebody that is experiencing food insecurity, please send them my way. The June, we've had a glitch in the matrix, so the June food distribution will not be happening. However, we will be back in July once we get a couple things ironed out with the Atlantic Community Food Bank. But again, thank you to everybody who came out. to make sure that over 200 families were able to have food for the month. I'd also like to thank Senator Donzelli-James as well as State Representative Deborah Bazemore for coming out to a town hall to assist residents with understanding the implications of Senate Bill 405, which is the new HOA bill and what that means for HOA communities. There were lots of questions, so there will be a part two coming soon. Some people had some very specific questions that we need to bring some additional resources. to bear to be able to assist our presidents and our boards of homeowner associations with what the implementation of SB 405 is going to mean. June 12th, the teen takeover in Creel Park will be lit. Now, please keep in mind that the park ain't that big. So we can only hold so many kids in the park. So please, please, please do get your kids signed up, registered. We don't want to have kids show up and we have to turn them away because we've reached capacity at the park. June 15th. will be another District 6 Town Hall with State Representative Deborah Bazemore. We're going to have a preview of the special session that is going to start on June 17th, and she's going to be sharing with us kind of what the lay of the land looks like and what they anticipate this special session is going to look like once they go in on June 17th. And then July 18th, looking forward to The month of July, we are going to have the annual back-to-school carnival, July 18th at Creel Park. Those of you who've come before know that it is literally a carnival, and it is a good time. So once again, please make sure that you get your kids signed up. We try not to ever have to turn a child away, but we do have... We can only get so many kids in the park.

What have I forgotten?

I'm so right. I heard. Okay. I've got everything on my piece of paper. Whatever that was, wasn't for me. So now this is the part where I look at the back at the hardest working man in show business and ask, did I get it all? We got it all. Because y'all know if it's not written down, I'm not going to remember it. I believe... that that is it for the Sensational Six Districts. These have been your church announcements for the week, and we are going to all do what? We're going to govern ourselves accordingly.

It's already back to school is what I was saying. It feels like it's already. Councilwoman Pritchett, District 7.

Well, congratulations to all the graduates in District 7 and throughout our city. And unfortunately, I don't have any announcements for you, so I will pivot to the mayor.

Wow. I'm going to give you an award. All right. Okay, really quick, we will have the South Fulton Municipal Association meeting on May the 28th, right there at Miller's Inn, off of Fulton Industrial. And Congressman Lucy McBeth will be there, so we'll make sure that we ask her any questions, as well as our police department will be showcasing their engagement strategy to the rest of the cities in the municipal area. Also, I want to mention that the Amazon Small Business Virtual Workshop webinar will be held on June the 1st from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. The flyer is out now. Registration is available. This is Amazon, who is our community partner, sharing exactly how to sell your items on Amazon. So this is a virtual workshop. So to all those business owners and entrepreneurs, please make sure that you go out and take a look at that. Also, Global Running Day is on June the 3rd in the city of South Fulton's very own Big Peach Running Company in partnership with the footwear called Socony. I thought it was called Socony. It's Socony, right? Okay, I thought it was Socony. I knew I was right. but there is a global running day that will be happening on June the third. Um, they meet up every Wednesday. So this will be, um, a partnership day. That's what we say. So Coney. So just wanted to let you all know that that'll be a good time to fellowship with your, uh, local neighbors and to have a good time. And you may receive some free footwear. You never know. We talked about the concert. South Fulton Summer of Safety kickoff will be on June 3rd at Clifton Dell Neighborhood Classroom, our newly renovated building, so please make sure you attend. The Juneteenth concert is sold out officially. It's free. Well, it's free, but everybody is getting a ticket. It's a very good lineup. We'll call Thomas, Case, Tila, Selena Johnson, and Sunshine Anderson. So we hope to have a good time right there at Wolf Creek Amphitheater. We will be hosting a landing at Six Network and Reception showcase in South Fulton. This will be at the Atlanta Airport Chamber. at the Kempton Overland Hotel rooftop. on June 18th from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. We also, for Juneteenth, we're doing a Legacy Links golf tournament at Wolf Creek Golf Course. And we will be raising funds for some of our youth activities. So from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. we'll be on the golf course. But there will also be an after party to raise funds from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. This is at the Wolf Creek Golf Course. And it's going to be lit, I think, DJ Envy? Maybe is the DJ. We also will be partnering with the Men's Health Expo because we do know that June is Men's Health Month. And that will be at Welcome Mall where they already have an existing class. We'll be partnering with Grady, Morehouse School of Medicine, and of course the Guru of Abs. care source and parks and recs and more. So if you know any men 50 plus that need some health and wellness in their life to get everything checked during Men's Health Month, please also come out. So you have several opportunities to also attend. We are focused on health and wellness in the city of South Fulton. And lastly, we will have the Buy South Fulton Home Buying Workshop, which was discussed at the Southwest Arts Center on June the 27th from 9 a.m. to 12. and i do want to take a moment to recognize um public works week that was was it last week it was last week um we had a good time i think many of the council members went out to their uh cookout in the garage as i kind of teased them but the ribs were really good but they also received a proclamation from governor kemp's office recognizing their hard work. So I did want to kind of showcase and let them know that we are very proud of our Public Works Department and the wonderful things. They even did the Cupid Shuffle with Councilwoman Rowe didn't want to participate, but they did a video and we will be sharing it. So it was a really good time, but I just want them to be, want you all to be aware that Public Works Week was last week and we do appreciate our employees. So again, thank you. And I also have a letter that we received from this Coral Springs, the city of Coral Springs. As we know, I believe it's been over a month. Has it been over a month? One of the council members, unfortunately, the vice mayor lost their life due to domestic violence. And a letter was sent to the city on behalf of our city offering condolences and proclamating her life. So I just want to make sure you all are aware that we received this letter of thanks and they appreciate it. That concludes the majority of my announcements. We have more of you always can follow me on social media. Instagram, Facebook, and everything else. So newsletters. And that's all that I have. Mr. Clerk, can you please sound the next item?

Yes, ma'am. That brings us to room number 11, agenda items under administration. Number three, second reading and request council approval of an ordinance of the city of South Fulton, Georgia, amending Title 15, Chapter 7, panhandling to establish mandatory incident documentation and enforcement reporting requirements to ensure consistent enforcement. Sponsored by Councilmember Natasha Williams-Brown.

All right. If we have no objections, we can adopt this with unanimous consent. Do we have any objections? All right. Mr. Clerk, please sound the next item.

So that brings us to number four, request council approval of a resolution amending section 117.18 of the city human resources policies and procedures manual to reflect the injured police officer supplemental benefit policy.

All right. All right, let's see here.

Can I have a motion?

Move to approve. That sounded.

And we have discussion. Councilwoman Williams-Brown.

Actually, this is, I hope this is a relatively quick question, but on the cover sheet that came with the resolution, I didn't see a fiscal impact statement. Do we have one?

Councilman is going to vary depending on the case. It's going to vary depending on the case. Right now we only have one, um, officer that's impacted.

All right, let's carry the vote. Can I get this vote by show of hands?

Court 5 votes. That motion was approved unanimously, 6-0.

Okay, thank you. All right, if there's no objections to 11b and c, can we adopt this with gross unanimous consent? Any objections? All right, Mr. Clark, please sound the next item.

That brings us to first read ordinances. Number one, first read an ordinance of the City of South Fulton, Georgia, amending Title 15, Public Safety and Offenses, to expand regulations governing loitering to establish citywide applicability to provide enforcement standards, documentation requirements, and public nuisance abatement authority, sponsored by Councilmembers Williams, Brown, and Pritchett. Also, number two, first read an ordinance prohibiting campaigning by candidates for elected office at city-sponsored events, providing for enforcement and penalties. Sponsored by Councilmember Williams-Brown.

All right. Mr. Clerk, please send the next item.

Brings us to our walk-on items. We have an event, June 27th, by South Fulton Homebuyers Workshop, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Southwest Arts Center. And then the special events application, by the NPHC for their 5K and 9K at Wolf Creek Amphitheater on June 13th from 6 a.m. to 11.30 a.m., special events application.

If there are no objections, we can adopt this with unanimous consent. No objections? All right. Mr. Clerk, please sound the next item.

Brings us to executive session if necessary.

It is not necessary at this time, so I will adjourn this meeting with gross unanimous consent. If you all, okay. Looks like we don't have a problem. This meeting is now adjourned, 8.39 p.m. Thank you.