City Council - Regular Meeting

Tommy fountain. Tommy Fountain. Would you step forward, please? Oh, that's what this is. I doubt it.

Good. Good evening, everybody. Many of you many of you might know my friend Tommy Fountain. He's the the pastor uh of 1025 church uh and the founder of the current location. Uh his first job was working in a Piggly Wiggly. So he decided to make a Piggly Wiggly into his church. um and and just an outstanding congregation and I appreciate all of the uh participation that you have not only with your with your church but with uh chaplain of the PD, chaplain for the fire department, your work that you do uh in and your church does with Monroe Area High School. Um that's a truly vested interest in the city and I certainly appreciate it. Would you lead us in prayer, please?

Glad to. Hey mayor, I just want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity and I was reminded today of James chapter 1 verse5 that says if a man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God and God will give it to him. And so I'm going to pray for your wisdom tonight. Let's pray together.

Father, thank you so much for just the opportunity to stand here before the mayor and for the city council and the city leaders. And Lord, as I shared that passage, I'm also reminded in book of Titus chapter 3, verse one, that the Bible teaches us to respect those who are in authority over us and to respect those who lead us. And I ask you tonight, Lord Jesus, that you would help us as citizens to do that as well. But I also pray that Lord, you'll give this city council wisdom. Lord, let them know everything they need to do. And I'm reminded in the book of Proverbs chapter 1 and chapter 2, the Bible says that wisdom comes from the word of God. So I pray today that uh as the decisions they will make that they will act upon and as they do so they'll ask for your wisdom, for your direction that you would guide their path. And Lord, I close my prayer today with just thanking you that the scripture is so true and the word of God teaches us to trust in the Lord with all of our heart. Lean not unto our own understanding. In all our ways acknowledge him. He will direct our paths. We love you. We praise you. Give them a good night tonight. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Thank you. Thank you, Tommy. Let's call this meeting to order to the city council of the city of Monroe for March 10th, 2026, just past six o'clock. Um, let the record reflect all members of council are present with the exception of Mr. Bradley. I need a uh an approval of the agenda, please. Is there a motion? Thank you, Miss Sams. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Crawford. Is there any discussion? All in favor certify by saying I. I.

All oppose like sign. Motion carries. That passes. Thank you. Moving to the approval of the consent agenda. This is the planning commission minutes from December uh DDA CVB and HPC minutes from January and council and called city council meeting from last month. I need a motion for the approval of the consent agenda. Please. I'll move, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Is there a second? Second. I'm going to give that one to Miss Crawford. Is there any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I.

All oppose like sign. Motion carries. That passes. I do have a couple of uh public comments uh tonight. I think I've got Joy first. You want to come up? Thank you for coming in. putting you to work, Jeff.

Can you see my face? Yeah, you you can come up here and kneel if you want. Get get the good video.

Good evening. My name is Joy Wilson, founder of The Grip Get One. Breaking the spell of ignorance within communities primarily and deliberately through literature, volunteer charity work and entertainment. This thesis is called once again music is medicine and money. This is an official request for grant funding toward long-term stability for home and work. goal initiative personal safety in order to protect health as presently being internally equipped and able essentially to practice good behavior in being considerate to build big better business through a foundation intentional and genuine excellent customer service skill by making the consumer count first. In order to exhibit the quality of ability to effectively serve my individual purpose with power is profitable for long-term stability for home and work. In ancient day, the most influential interest that is important and significant concerning music throughout human history is communication. that has been used for a variety of purposes as well can also be a powerful tool for social change that can help to develop the mind and soul in a positive, productive and beneficial manner. Medicine originated in ancient Egypt and

Greece influenced by religion, magic and observation. The first known physician was Imote. Wikipedia states the history of medicine as the study and documentation of the evolution of medical treatment practices and knowledge over time. Medicine is derived from a Latin word called medicus meaning physician. Important personal accomplishment. Inspirational songwriting is my coping skill that intentionally and specifically encourages mental health. What is healing? The process of making or becoming sound or healthy again. A healing experience as in through inspirational music

to cause an undesirable condition to be overcome. For example, a remedy can relieve or cure a problem or illness such as to correct an evil. God bless y'all. Thank you, Joy. I appreciate you coming in. Have a great night. God bless.

Glenn and Karema Haynes, do you have a public comment? I know I told you yesterday, but man, I'm glad y'all are here. Yes, sir. Good evening, everyone. Uh, mayor and council members, I'm going to be reading something. I'm a little nervous, so please bear with me. Okay. This is actually my first council meeting ever in my We're glad you're here. Take You were easy.

All right. So, my name is Glenn and this is my wife, Karima, and we are the owners of Baltimore Crab Kings here in Monroe. When I signed my lease for my restaurant, my expectations was that we would be able to offer outdoor seating. Outdoor dining is is an important part of my restaurant industry and help small businesses like mine attract customers and contribute to the local economy. It has been brought to my attention that the deck in front of my business must be torn down. I understand the city's concerns about the platform that was built in the parking area without proper permits or inspection. I respect the city's position on safety and compliance and I also understand that the property owner the property owner has agreed to remove the structure. However, my concern is that other restaurants in Monroe appear to have outdoor seating near roadways as well. I understand the city has explained that those businesses control their own parcels and parking areas. I respect that distinction, but from a small business owner's perspective, it raises the question of whether there is any fair and legal path for my business to offer outdoor seating. If the current deck must be removed, I accept that. What I'm asking tonight is simple. Is there a compliant way for my business to have an outdoor seating in the future? I am more than willing to work with the city, follow the proper permitting permitting process, and install any safety measures necessary to make it work. My goal is not to break the rules. My goal is to grow my business and continue investing in Monroe. Thank you for your time.

Yes, sir. Thank you for coming in. I'll see you Friday. We'll talk more. Um I'll talk with with our team to see if there's anything that that can be done and if there's not, if there's a pathway to make some changes, but but we'll do everything we can. Thank you so much. All right. Yes, sir. Thank you.

So glad to see y'all. Thank you. Moving to public presentation of a proclamation. Um this uh I have some visitors here. Uh students, you want to stand up if you could please. You all come up front. Uh so is everybody a member of the Bark program? Is that correct? Okay. Are you and and you are in Miss Schneider's class, right? Oh, all are or were. Right. Okay. Yeah. She's she's pretty awesome teacher, right? and she was diagnosed with MS last year, two years ago now. Um, she's become a spokesperson for the MS society. Correct. Well, I'm honored to read this and and I'm going give it to the nice young lady. I know y'all are really cool guys and stuff, but ladies first. And let her hand it off. Okay. Um, proclamation for City of Monroe, Georgia. Whereas multiple sclerosis is a neurological disease of the central nervous system affecting over 1 million people in the United States alone. And whereas multiple sclerosis generally strikes people in the prime of life between ages 20 through 50 and the cause and course of the often debilitating symptoms of MS remain unknown and no cure currently exists. And whereas the National Multiple Sclerosis Society is committed to a world free of MS heightening public knowledge about an and insight into the disease. Whereas together we've transformed what it means to live with MS and provided global leadership to help achieve our vision of a world free of MS. And whereas since 1946, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society has been a driving force of MS research, relentlessly pursuing prevention, treatments, and a cure and has invested more than $1 billion into the groundbreaking research. Whereas funds raised through the national multiple scerosis society fuel research on pathways to MS cures and invest in the

MS research workforce the best medical centers, universities and other institutions throughout the United States and abroad leading to many breakthroughs in the treatment of MS. And whereas the mission of the National Multiple Scerosis Society is to cure MS while empowering people affected by MS to live their best lives and one that all Americans in Georgia should support. And whereas the state of Georgia recognized the importance of finding the cause and cure of MS and expresses its appreciation for the dedication that the National Multiple Sclerosis Society of Georgia chapter has shown toward creating a world free of MS. Now therefore, John S. Howard by virtue of the authority invested in me as the mayor of the city of Monroe to hereby proclaim March 9th through the 15th, 2026 is MS awareness week. in the city of Monroe. I encourage all citizens to learn more about multiple scerosis and what they can do to support individual individuals with MS and their families and witness whereof I've here unto set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Monroe to be affixed this 10th day of March 2026. John S. Howard. Now, would you come forward, please, ma'am? Denise,

did you want to say anything?

I'm more than happy to let you take the mic. Thank you. Um, I appreciate you all giving the proclamation to my students. They wrote to Mayor Howard and exercised their right as constituents. they have becoming an advocate and they've watched me speak to the FDA at the externally led FDA meeting in the fall and they went to the state capital and I received the proclamation from Representative Fleming um February 20th and I will be on Capitol Hill March 22nd and 23rd and meeting with our senators there. um to get more funding hopefully. So, thank you for understand how this process starts here, moves to the state and then to the federal level. It is more meaningful than you know that they get to see it firsthand.

Well, they're great kids. I had a a great time visiting uh last time I was at school and I appreciate all of you reaching out to me and letting me know. Okay. Thanks, Denise. Glad to see you. And the cool part is you don't have to stick around if you don't want to. There's ice cream right over there. Oh, pizza night. Yes. Next. Uh Alysa, are you here? Could you come say a few words for our finance team?

Um Beth, would you invite your team up front, please, and let you talk? I I told Sam it was going to be him. So, they've all been like wondering who it's gonna be.

Yes. If y'all will come forward, please. While they're coming forward, I'll um say a couple words. Um so, the GGFOA, which is the Georgia Government Finance Officers Association, designated next week, which is March 16th through the 20th, as Government Finance Professionals Week. Um, this statewide recognition highlights the dedicated professionals who safeguard Georgia's public resources and ensures financial transparency, accountability, and stability within our local government. Um, all of these individuals play a very critical role in the daily operations here at the city of Monroe. This team is responsible for every dollar that is build, collected, and spent within the city. Um their work supports a wide range of essential fun fun functions such as accounts payable, accounts receivable, cashiering, customer service, utility billing, budgeting, financial reporting, grant administration, payroll, and most importantly our annual audit which is currently going is currently underway and also ensures the city contributes or continues to meet the highest standards of financial accountability. Um, I personally want to extend my appreciation to the dedication, hard work, and professionalism of each person in the finance department. You deserve to be recognized each and every day, and each of you truly make a difference in our city, and we thank you for it. Now therefore, I, John Howard, by virtue of the authority vested in me as the mayor of the city of Monroe, do hereby proclaim the third week of March is government finance professionals week in the city of Monroe and encourage all residents, elected officials, and community organizations to join in recognizing and expressing appreciation for the dedicated government finance professionals across our community in the state of Georgia and witness whereof, I've here unto set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Monroe to be aff fixed this 10th day of March, 2026. John Howard. Now, thank you so much. Uh they're uh we win awards every year. How many years in a row have we won for our puffer and

all of them? Uh but I think we're at eight I think we're at 18.

So and it's not easy and I and I know it's not a lot of personalities down there coming and going. Um and I just appreciate all that that that you do. So thank you so much for coming in. And you can go home, too. So you don't this is my last proclamation then we'll move forward to listening to Chris and Logan. Um proclamation of the city of Monroe Georgia. Whereas endometriosis is a chronic, painful, and often debilitating disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus affecting an estimated one in 10 individuals of reproductive age. And whereas indometriosis can lead to severe pelvic pain, infertility, fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, and significantly reduced quality of life. Yet, it often goes undiagnosed for years due to widespread misunderstanding and lack of awareness. And whereas early recognition, accurate diagnosis, and timely intervention can greatly improve outcomes and reduce long-term complications for those living with this condition. And whereas many individuals with with endometriosis suffer silently or feel dismissed, making public education and understanding essential to ensuring they receive compassionate care, appropriate treatment, and the support they deserve. And whereas endometriosis awareness month observed each year in March provides an opportunity to raise awareness, support those affected, promote research, and encourage open dialogue within our community. And whereas increasing awareness contributes to greater empathy, earlier diagnosis, and improved health outcomes for those impacted by this chronic condition. That therefore I, John S. tower by virtue of the authority vested in me as a city of Monroe mayor to hereby proclaim the month of March 2026 as endometriosis awareness month in the city of Monroe I

encourage residents healthcare providers educators and community organizations to increase awareness support those who are affected and advocate for improved research treatments and understanding of indometriosis in witness whereof I've here unto set my hand and caused the seal of the city of Monroe Georgia to be affixed this 10th day of March 2026 John S. Howard and I will take this.

Now moving to business items. Mr. Probes. Thank you, Mayor. Just a couple quick updates. Um I think I reported favorably last month about um the Highway 11 78 um interchange. We're trying to get signalized. Uh the DOT commissioner um was very very favorable about this. However, it's caught up in the large S of the state bureaucracy right now. So, we're still working through that, still chopping that wood on on getting that through. And uh as you recall, we said, "Hey, we'll we'll pay for it ourselves if we can just get the permit because it's um it's kind of a nightmare." So, we're working through all all of that bureaucracy right now with our engineers as well, week in and week out. It's it's unbelievable. It's taking so long. So, I apologize. We're doing everything we can to keep that moving forward. Um we are continuing to monitor all the tax reform bills that are going through the state legislature um legislature and um we are working with our legislators on you know any amendments that we are wanting uh pushed through. I I don't know uh how this one that just passed the other day 116 is going to track in the in the Senate. We'll see. But um we'll talk about it more on Thursday at our upcoming retreat. And um if they don't get us this year, they'll try again next year. Um it's just a matter of time before they kind of um pressure the local governments into into dealing with tax reform. even though, you know, I believe you all know that we're the most fiscally sound uh level in in government, but there will be a lot to deal with if one of these tax reform bills does go through. A lot of um strategic thinking will have to be done as to how we're going to have to operate over the the next 10 years or so. That's kind of the timeline they're they're

giving us to fully implement some of this stuff. So, a lot more to follow on that. We just don't have a lot of details yet. I was talking with uh Mike Maguire earlier. Um the fiber Monroe project is basically wrapped up now, right Mike? All all the infrastructure has been city. All right.

Big deal. So you know uh that was 2020 bond project. remember we did $50 million and um I like to say we kind of put in five plus years, just a little over five years, we've put in about 50 years worth of true infrastructure. So my hats off to the whole utility team, uh telecom and uh water, sewer, gas, electric. It's just been amazing. Um Rodney's finishing up his uh water tank out there on Cherry Hill. Um be painted soon, right, Rodney? Yeah. Okay. Unfortunately, it's gonna it's not going to get a very pretty paint job. You won't have to break it. It'll be broken.

Yeah. FAA is going to make us paint it something real nice. Um, it's not interrupt. Yeah. John Howard did not choose orange for the tank. Just know that it's, you know, Florida Gator and all or any Tennessee fans, it's none of us. No, it's it's FAA orange and white unfortunately, but we've tried every trick in the book we we could to uh prevent that, but and checkerboard. It It's Tennessee endzone checkerboard is what it's going to look like. Unfortunately, it's going to be awful, but um we'll blame the FAA.

Sorry about that. Um and then lastly, next week we're going to be getting the 95% plan set for the uh wastewater treatment plant. Um, and then the next step there is to get our bond financing lined up and then we'll get it out to bid, you know, later this year. So, a lot in motion and a lot has been accomplished over the last few years. So, I'm proud of the team to get all that done. Thank you, Mr. Prob. There any questions for Logan? Mr. Bailey. So, if I'd have known we were going to announce the color of the tank tonight, I'd have worn an orange shirt. Um, rip the band-aid off, you know?

Yeah, I know, right? just go ahead and get it out there and look like a rocky top end zone. Um, so Parks World, uh, we should hopefully hear this month or next on our Georgia Outdoor Stewardship uh, grant that we applied for that was a little over three million for uh, the initial phase of the river park development. Um, and then another park that we're working on, Children's Park. Miss Sams, myself, Mr. Croy have worked on a rainbow bridge concept that is for uh the K-9 community as they pass uh a little uh a memorial so to speak uh near the dog park where people can attach collars, name tags, uh different uh items or whatnot to cables that we'll have there. And there's the rainbow bridge poem that goes to that. Um so look for that over the next couple of months up on the hill. Um, Green Street, we are looking at a uh refurbishment of some of the playground equipment, additional playground equipment, a small pavilion, and then we're actually going to put on street parking uh fix it into where you can I don't know, we talked about maybe about a dozen spaces that we could get off of the street to actually have parking there at the park. Um, so that'll be a big change to to that particular area. Um, TAP grant out front is moving along quite well. Um, Windstream is currently supposed to be here this week to start moving their utilities off of our poles hopefully. Mike's sitting down there with his fingers crossed. I saw that. Um, and once that happens, that'll allow the contractors to start working on the sidewalk on the east side of uh, Broad Street. Um, the plan from that point is to move to North Lumpin Street, which will hopefully start the Monday after the car show. uh just so that we don't interrupt uh that street because we do use it. We purchased those lots back there for additional uh showc car

parking. Um and the goal there is we met with contractors yesterday is for them to work overnight so that they don't impact the businesses that uh front North Lumpkin and they don't interfere with uh you know the traffic that goes through there during the day. Parking lots will be accessible throughout the project. They'll do one lane, shut it down, do all of the utilities, get that finished for curbing, and then they'll close that side, move over to the other side, at which point the electric crew will start to move uh I think it's a half a dozen maybe poles, four to six give or take that we'll have to move and uh redo sidewalks on that side. And then at that point, they will move to Highland and broad that intersection. and we're having to do some additional studies after pothole and everything on some of the storm water infrastructure just to make sure that everything flows appropriately. Um, but again, the project's moving along pretty good. I think we what we had 540 days on the initial project. I believe we're 176 into it if a little bit of math right and short-term memory doesn't fail me. Um, so we're still, you know, in the the upper 300s of uh days to do that project, but if they continue the current track they're on, they'll be done well ahead of that. Um, we've had a couple of issues, I think, with the Walton Street entrance off of Broad where it's almost like a double curve because the level of that street's got to come up, you know, probably six to eight inches. We'll address that in the next couple of weeks. So, it'll make that entry point look much wider and uh it'll be uh far easier to navigate. Uh the other TAP grants, McDaniel and then Davis Mirs Madison, they're moving along quite well. Um you know, these these projects are are fairly long term. We started those both in January of 2024, and we're still in the concept phases. Uh we've seen a preliminary on McDaniel

Street, but we are yet to see one on Davis Mirs and Madison simply because you have railroad infrastructure that's associated with that one, and it's going to take quite a bit longer. Um the other little uh couple of items uh we had Arbor Day celebration at the Davis Edwards house across the street on February 27th. The tree board and uh staff members had proclamation reading uh planted I think two trees there. Um I think they came back and did a few days later because it was uh the ground was rather saturated that day. Um car show March 21st almost here right now. What 10 days out? The weather's looking pretty good. Um rather, you know, get it here on our on our first plan date as opposed to having to go to a rain date, even though that proved fairly successful last year. But, uh looking forward to a good show. Um community cleanup day will be at the tail end of our great American cleanup week, Georgia C's week that Danny will talk about here in just a little bit. Um and we'll uh do the same thing that we've always done. uh volunteer organizations can pick up in their around their areas, churches, neighborhoods. Uh Miss Brown reached out to me earlier today to tell me that I think you've already got maybe two, three groups that are planning to participate.

Um and we'll do the same thing. You know, volunteers are welcome that day from 9 to noon. Um we'll have some fun activities and uh we kind of celebrate our staff that does that on a daily basis um and allow them to kind of stay in the trucks and pick up the garbage bags that we actually collect the trash on the ground. So it's good community event. We typically have 75 to 100 people. The only other thing I've got uh Stone Mountain Village on February 28th held their staff and council uh retreat here in the city of Monroe. Uh it was a Saturday morning. Um John, Logan, myself, Mr. Dickinson stopped by um and um we uh we sat in while they uh essentially work towards planning their future. Um and they were so um I guess u I don't know the word. I mean very very impressed with what Monunroe has done over the last you know 5 10 15 20 years and um just kind of uh wanted to uh emulate what we've done. So they had their staff meeting that morning and then we took them on a tour of the entire town. They wanted to see the green. They wanted to discuss the different things that we've done with the DDA, the URA, the city council, the things that we've put in place. And then they came back and had their executive session that afternoon. So they were very impressed with Monroe. You guys should be extremely proud of everything that you've done, allowed us to do, and that we've done as staff. So I'll be glad to take any questions.

Thank you, Mr. Bailey. Are there any questions for Chris? you know, to move to new business. Um, preliminary plat moratorum extension, Mr. Pro. Thank you, mayor. We've been doing this every six months, primarily till we get this wastewater treatment plant uh put in place. Uh, so before you yet another renewal with some updated language and some updated metrics um for the uh luminary plat moratorum, the acceptance thereof. Uh all other items in that mortorium are generally the same. The only thing we've kind of updated was some wastewater treatment plant numbers and this will go another six months.

Are there any questions, comments, motions? Move to approve. Thank you, Miss Malcolm. Is there a second? Second. You Tyler. Thank you, Mr. Gregory. Is there any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I. All oppose like sign. Motion carries. God bless you. 2025 uh budget amendments. Miss Thompson.

Thank you, mayor. Um this is asking for approval of the attached uh fiscal year 2025 budget amendments and fund balance assignments. Um as you all know, going into each budget year, um we take a very conservative approach when projecting revenues and expenses. Um, and this is actually increasing the general fund budget by 2,274,385 due to revenues and expenses coming in um, more than budgeted. Um, and the shop with a hero fund budget is increasing by $4,782 um, due to revenues and expenses coming in. Um, amendment increases are not indicative of being overbudget in a negative way. Rather, increased budgets are offset by increased um, revenues. Um, we do have fund balance assignments for 2025. Um, I'll go through those real quick. $5,488 in the shop with a hero fund, $737,784.71 in solid waste fund, and $1,612,65.72 in the SPLOS 2019 fund. Um, fund balance is essentially a net financial resource of prior year surplus available for future spending when needed, and in 2025, those were needed. Um these budget amendments are needed to ensure compliance with our own financial policies and also to satisfy state of Georgia criteria. I'm appro proposing these end of the year budget amendments as a result of overages as at the department level. Adopting these amendments will allow me to finalize the 2025 financial statements and the comprehensive annual financial statements with Molden and Jenkins are external auditors.

Thank you Beth. Are there any questions? Miss Thompson hearing none. I'll entertain a motion. Move to approve. Thank you, Mr. Gregory. Is there a second? Us. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Bradley. Is there any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. All oppose like sign. Motion carries. That passes. Moving to the renewal of property and casualty insurance. Miss Thompson or Miss Dills. Who do you want?

Um, I'll take it and Bob Seville will come to the podium. Um, this is the annual renewal of our property and casualty insurance coverage. um which is from April 2026 to the end of March 2027. Um as you'll see um this paper that I handed out um which is confidential um there's a almost an 18% increase over the current um premium um and Bob Seville with Civilian Associates will go over those um changes. Well, good to see y'all again coming in Bob and

I think y'all just got this beforehand. So I hope you brought your glasses. It's all the one I had to bring mine. Uh but like she said, there's an that is there's the deductible column. The last two columns are there was no change this year and the casualty limits had no change this year. Um and so all the change was in the property and the equipment and the automobile exposures. And uh this year, Travelers was trying to they they're in on a three-year uh project to increase the values on this building and our utilities because we haven't increased them in about 10 years. So last year we increased the values u quite a bit and then this year they increased the uh values on the sewer plant uh $7 million. this building about $5 million and uh then the water plant about a million dollars which is a little bit smaller. And uh so that if you look right in the property section and the the green sections are the renewal part. Uh and right in the middle you'll see the property section and right almost in the middle of the paper there's 13,950 is the amount the property increased this year. Uh and then up above that, the autos increased about uh only six units or so. We traded out a lot of vehicles, things like that. And then the equipment went up about a million dollars. Part of that was the new uniforms, the Motorola uniforms we got. And then we had some uh tractors we bought and things like that. So uh a lot of this increase is attributed to that. and there was some rate from travelers

in there but nothing like we've seen in the past. Um outside of that u there was not a whole lot of change on anything else. So I know you've just got this before the meeting. So if you have anything that jumps out at you you want to talk about questions on trusted staff is overall it's been a pretty good year in the past. Nitpicked it pretty good. So

Bob's been good to work with over the last many forever years. So Blaine Street Shopping Center. Yeah, that's I'm glad you brought that up. That's uh that to uh I didn't cut you off. No, no, that's okay. Um the U we pulled that out of the regular blanket and I think we have a sale on it in yeah there's a sale contract on it right now

on it right now and we moved it to what value instead of replacement cost and the uh if we put it on we'd have to increase the value on that somewhere in the range of 17 million and we have it on the schedule for a little over 8 million right now, which is Is that what we paid originally? We looked that up. Far less than that.

Yeah, we we didn't pay a whole lot for that, but um but we tried to get the uh the value up to actual cash value, which is what this amount is that's listed on here. And what we call blank coverage on a schedule this big where if We just had one uh at a another city only had 50,000 on it, but it cost 250 to replace it. So the blanket covered that. This is broken out on a separate mount. So once we sell that, that'll come off.

We take it off. That's right. That will be anything we dispose of, we send back over to Bob to pull off. Yeah. We we took those warehouses off. Thank goodness. Are there any questions, Bob? Any questions for Beth or Danielle or Logan? Hearing none. And I agree with Greg. I I appreciate you're going through the process together. I know it's it's not easy, but um I have faith that you've all made the right calls. So, I'll entertain a motion. Move, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Is there a second? Second.

Thank you, Mr. Dickinson. Is there are there any questions? Any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. All opposed like sign. Motion carries. That passes unanimously. Thanks, Bob. Good to see you. Thank you, sir. You too. Appreciate you coming in. Uh Hammond Park redevelopment recreational development project. Mr. Probes or Mr. Bailey? we can both jump in. But um

this has been something that uh you all have discussed for a long time um at you know various retreats over the many years. What do we do with Hammond Park? And so we had uh recently met with Lordax Sergeant who um did the original plan over at the Blaine Station Police Department area. Um and they're really good at these kind of uh creative mixed use uh public use kind of deal. um property uh schematics. And so what they did was prop give us a proposal for their scope of work and what that would entail. And so kind of what we came up with was that some of your direction is this is a big blank slate now, so to speak. We still want there to be some public elements, but we also think that maybe it's prime infield redevelopment as well. Um there's some challenges with some of the old utility infrastructure in there. So we kind of went over all of that. Uh storm water especially um a little bit on the electric side, but a lot of that's being mitigated right now with MIA power. Um so essentially we we just kind of gave them some options. This is what we'd like to see. And then they're going to come back with some different options to us if you guys approve this scope of work here tonight. It's um requested at $31,800 and we're going to use this out of our park splot because it's going to have a a central component of some sort of park element especially out there on the front end. So I'm kind of excited to see what they come up with and of course anything can be fine-tuned. There's nothing set in stone. Um and I expect a fairly quick turnaround on it. You want to add anything? And I mean turnaround, I think they said that they could probably have it to us by July, which would be perfect for a summer retreat that we could sit and discuss kind of the master plans that they bring to us and the different options. Um, you know,

as it relates to guidelines, codes that we have in our city. Um, and then taking a look at the conditions of the of what exists as far as infrastructure. Um, so should be a fun process um to go through and we should have several good options to sit down and hash over and and figure out exactly what we want to do with it going forward. Perfect. Thank you, gentlemen. Are there any questions for Chris or Logan?

Is there a scope at how much they're looking to convert to res? Um, not exactly on a percentage basis or acreage basis, but probably you can envision the back loop up to Russell Road and and they want to integrate as much as they can in the back end, but also they're kind of pre-planning what would happen around our our park on somebody else's property, how that could be tied into a future infield redevelopment as well. Mainly like the perimeter.

Yeah, just a perimeter edge. And then out front, you know, where the tennis courts are, we may have some rehab there and may have some other elements of some other park features out there as well. But, you know, we've talked for years about how it's good to have activity and eyes in our parks as much as possible. And you know that from as well. So, that that's kind of what we tasked them with is let's see what you can come up with.

Well, and one of the main things too and I forgot to mention this earlier is the reconnectivity of Hubard um to where that currently does not connect. So, it is two dead end little roads that go there to reconnect that somehow another build a uh a connecting walkway bridge um across over to the other day to the other side. Yeah, potentially. Um so, you're linking it to other neighborhoods in the community for full usage. Exactly. How much of it would be a park element? I probably about as much as is already there, right? Um Yeah, I mean there's there's plenty of room for golf.

I don't maybe that but um it'll be like an older adult active park. I mean there there's room to do a lot more than is currently but a soccer field and baseball field that's not used is a lot of wasted space. Yeah. I'll entertain a motion. Please move to approve. Thank you, Mr. Dickson. Is there a second? Thank you, Miss Sams. Is there any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I. I. All oppose like sign. Motion carries. That passes unanimously. Great American cleanup. Mr. Bailey. Mr. Bailey. You want me to do it, Danny? Or um you can um I can chip in.

So, I mean, yeah, this this is just our this is our annual Great American Cleanup Week. It coincides with um with Oh, good lord, I forgot the name. Um electric there the Georgia cities week. That's it. Yeah.

Um I knew it was one of those. Um and then it uh that's the week of uh April and then leads into April 25th which I mentioned earlier is our uh community cleanup day. So, and the whole premise behind the Great American Cleanup Week, uh, that week of April 20th through the 24th is that residents living within the city of Monroe, um, can bring trash, garbage, scrap metal, and tires up to a limit of 10 to the transfer station um, between normal operating hours and no mattresses or box springs though can be brought in. But, um, yeah, so this is just our annual uh, ties to Keep America Beautiful. So, Any questions? I'll let Danny want me to do the edit. Edit.

No, that's it. Uh the biggest thing is the mattress and also sometime we do we get calls for paint. Yeah. No paint cans. So they can call the office at u at transfer station 2665148 and we'll make a special consideration. Okay. Some people may have some. All right. Thank you. Are there any other questions? Uh limit on tires. 10. Yes. I'll entertain a motion. So moved or second. Thank you, Miss Malcolm. And thank you, Mr. Bradley. Is there any discussion? All in favor signify by saying I.

I. All oppose like sign. Motion carries. That passes. I'll move into district items. Uh Miss Malcolm. Thank you, Miss Crawford. Mr. Bradley,

no new items. Uh, last month I had mentioned the site all staff who jump right on apologize for being party miss. Um, nope. Looking forward to the car show and chief if we can whatever y'all did at the last event we had for Walton Street. Yes, it was better. I think it still could use some work, but it was better. So, if we can just keep eyes on that, that would be great. Thank you, Miss Brown. Uh, nothing at the moment,

Mr. Gregory. Uh, just like to say thanks to everybody that's keeping everything mowed and cut back. It looks great everywhere, especially on Second Street where we now city property looking fantastic through there. Thank you so much. Um, also thanks. There were several different things that I had brought to staff's attention that were taken care of that were people in my district's requests, things that they had seen. So, I just want to say thanks so much for hopping on that. People were very thankful and were like, "Hey, look how fast that happened." I was like, "Yeah, that's who these guys are. They get it done." So, uh, thanks for that. And, um, have we gotten any any update on the train cars by any chance? Any chance we could move? Can we get some What if we get some signs out there or something? Let's talk about that one offline.

Roger that. Complicated. Private property, right? Other than that, going great. Thank you, Tyler. Mr. Thompson, I have nothing. Mr. Dickinson, nothing further.

Well, uh, if you would, uh, kick back. I got a few things. Um, Mr. Magcguire, you gonna help me out? Um, very rarely will I mention the University of Tennessee in um in a council meeting, and I'm dang sure you're not going to mention it twice, except for tonight. Um, I will say this that the undergraduates at Tennessee, uh, if you put a bunch of them in a room, you might get a full set of teeth, but their nursing department has a new student. Their nursing department, and her name is Laura Kate. A, how sweet. Thank you. So proud of her and she's such a good kid. Um so congratulations

accomplishment and quite a surprise. Um yeah, it's amazing. Really congratulations. Um Larry Witcher passed away last month. I think many you remember the professor of useless knowledge. Uh my wife the first time she heard me give him that description went that is so offensive for the man who just died. I was like no no no he went by that title. Um

I mean he appreciated that title. his uh daughter brought me this titac that he wore when he was a police officer for the city of Monroe. Um she's donating his uniform to the museum. This will go with it, but um appreciate her letting me use it tonight. Um first time I've ever worn a tit. Um crossover day was Friday and spent a lot of time at the capital. um HB 1114 or HR114 was a resolution that needed 2/3 passage to make a constitutional amendment to remove property tax from homesteaded properties. That did not pass. Uh 1116 did pass with fewer votes actually um in the House and it goes to the Senate now. Logan just mentioned it. will stay on top of it. What they're what they gave and what they offered to push it from the House to the Senate. Uh we'll learn more more in the coming days. Um Georgia Reeds Week, we won.

So $20,000 uh $20,000 grant. Malcolm Mitchell will be coming to talk to the kids at Boner Elementary. Um had a great group of folks and put together an application that was about that thick. Uh, so they did a lot of work and and um Desa and Dana and Jamie and Stacy from the library, uh, Tish from Walton Youth Project. I mean, it took a lot of folks. And then, uh, Dane Callahan really put up with us a lot, too. So, uh, that will be I'll come up with a date. It's probably going to be late April when he comes. Um, if you so desire, uh, I will be having story time with the mayor for my, um, mayor's reading club on March 17th. I think they put me in a little leprechaun hat last time. Um, put on your schedule, please. May 21st for our next municipal meeting. Uh, Shane Short is going to be sponsoring the meeting.

When did you say

May 21st? It's going to be at Up and Smoke in Jersey. and he's going to be talking about all things uh workforce development. Um you mentioned Stone Mountain. Uh the GMA conference is in Savannah. This is where Mrs. uh Powell smacked me over the head earlier and said to make sure that you know sheets are in front of you for the Savannah conference and they need to be filled out completely in the back and you have two choices of filling them out. One is immediately tonight and the other is make sure that it's in her hands by Thursday so she can prepare and get everything ready for for the classes and hotels. I think that's maybe next week. But if you could make a point to have that all done by Thursday, I'd appreciate it. That being said, I do need a motion to adjurnn, please.

To approve. Thank you, Miss Sims, and thank you, Mr. Bradley. All in favor signify by saying I. I. All oppose like sign. Motion carries. That passes meeting adjourn.