City Council - Regular Meeting

States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We'll observe a moment of silence. [cough] Thank you. Announcements, awards, special recognition. We have none. Public comment. Before we start in our public comment section of tonight's meeting, I have a a brief comment that I'm going to share regarding one of our agenda items tonight and some very pretty shocking misinformation that's out on social media. So bear with me. Uh my topic of conversation relates to the annexation study that is on our agenda tonight. The item before council tonight is simply to authorize a professional study that will evaluate our municipal boundaries and analyze potential annexation areas from a land use perspective. We have several borders in lots of different directions. This study is not tied to any specific property or a development or a project or a proposal. council started talking about a boundary study or an annexation study in 2023. It's typical for a city to conduct an annexation study every 5 years or so. Peach Tree City hasn't done one since 2014. So, it's high time. The purpose of the analysis will be to provide this council with data and objective recommendations so we can thoughtfully consider how to manage our borders, our boundaries in the future.

In the past, development has continued in other areas outside of Fyet in our neighboring counties with those impacts hitting Peach Tree City pretty pretty directly. We've all seen the results with the traffic on Highway 54 coming in from the Sharpsburg area with Sam's Club and Costco. We cannot be idle and sit idly by and think things are going to go well for Peach Tree City. We need a plan to ensure that we have a seat at the table and we are in the decision-making seat. I want to assure our residents that no decisions about annexation or zoning or development are being made tonight and we remain committed to transparency and to ensuring that our residents have accurate information and you might not find that on Facebook. This study is about gathering facts and evaluating options and nothing more. The findings of the study will be presented at a future public meeting. So stay tuned and stay informed. And thank you for being here. We do appreciate you.

Do we have public comment? Yes, madam mayor. We have six speakers signed up. The first person signed up is Jeremy Santos.

And we have coming up on the screen the four minutes, I believe. Can you hold one second? [cough] Technical difficulties. We'll be with you in a moment. Let me know when it's getting better.

Madame Mayor, I will keep a timer on my phone while I'm working on that phone. and [clears throat] we're ready. Thank you very much.

Good evening, mayor and city council. My name is Jeremy Santos. I live at 351 Archway Lane in the Gates, which is on the south side of Peach Tree City. Thank you for allowing me to speak tonight. I'm here because of a situation that we're facing that has seriously shaken our confidence and one of the most important protections homeowners can rely on, the integrity of the city's permitting and inspection process. In 2017, we built our house in a newly annexed neighborhood with full city permitting and inspection at every stage. A professional surveyor prepared a stamp survey plan and physically placed stakes to mark our property lines. Those stakes have remained in place unchanged throughout construction and during fence installation. We trusted that approval and we had no reason not to. Two years later, we obtained a pool permit. The same fence was approved as our required safety barrier for that pool. For nearly a decade, nothing about the fences changed. The survey markers and site conditions remain exactly where they were signed off by the city. Yet today, retroactively, unprovoked, violation notices claiming the fence encroaches on the green space have been sent. I understand mistakes happen. I understand staffing challenges. I understand all the bureaucratic problems that that can happen within a city. We've we've uh followed every rule. We paid every fee. We've uh relied on the city's multiple [laughter] approvals and inspections for our fence. Importantly, sorry. Whoa. None of these shortcomings are the responsibility of us. the homeowner. We're not surveyors. I hired professional surveyors, ones that the city uses also to survey the lot. I'm not an inspector. The city is the one that inspected and approved our permits.

It seems like the city is going back retroactively trying to find something to hang their hats on. And that's a quote, hang their hats on. That's from uh open records that we found. despite multiple our multiple approved inspections, they're coming after us to to relocate these fences. Our big concern is safety. We've got a a 33 and a 24° slope in our backyard. If we move our fence down that slope, it's going to effectively lower the fence height, allowing people to encroach from the green sp intrude from the green space into our yard by basically taking a 5-ft fence and giving an effective height of 1 foot, allowing people to jump the fence. It will also require major regrading, excavation, the erosion controls that we put in, drainage, that's a uh that's a factor. We put in French drains because the the water flow from the green space and the way the neighborhood was originally um excavated has created a major problem. Removing the sod, that's the only thing that's holding the uh the the slope in place. It's uh there there's going to be some serious erosion concerns. Um we're deeply our our biggest concern is child safety. Uh pools are known as an attractive nuisance liability and it's a potential risk for us. Citizens of Peach Tree City and then the city itself. The majority of the required changes, if we are to move our fence, would have to recur on the green belt side and come at an additional cost to the taxpayers beyond the $3,200 in taxpayer funds that the city has already retroactively spent after these notices of violation have been sent out. So, we got notice of violation and then the city spent $3,200 more trying to prove their point. So again, um all I'm asking for is that the council place this

matter on a future council agenda so that it can be uh that can be uh spoken about in an open record. And I'm only uh speaking for myself. Thank you. Thanks very much. Next speaker is Greg Vousa.

Greg, there you go. Good evening. Um, my name is Greg Vogga. Move the microphone up a little so you can hear. There you go. Better. Um, good evening, council members and mayor. Um, my name's Greg Vogga.

Got it. Um, I'm just here. Uh, one of our neighbors, uh, Larry Lighhouser was not able to be here. He appointed us as a proxy and I just wanted to put his, uh, his information into record. Um he says uh from the email that I'm reading from him, I recognize that our fence line encroaches on the green space. It has been same position for the past 8 years. Our intent was to align our fence line with both neighbors on either side. The contour of the land for each of our homes, make our fences safer for all.

In addition, we have [clears throat] invested time and money to maintain the green space to keep the landscape attractive. both our neighbors and council have inherited this situation and want to work for a res to a resolution and uh that's the end of his comments. Um he supports us uh with the comments that we're making today. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, please. Robin Vuga. Thank you. ready. Okay. Hello. My name is Robin Vogga. I'm at 343 Archway Lane and I'm here to represent my family, my husband, Greg and my kids, Will and Izzy Boga. And um we are in the Gates neighborhood also with the fence issue. And that's what [clears throat] I want to use my four minutes to talk about tonight is the fence. And I want to show you that it's in the city's best interest to leave the fence where it is. We have looked into doing a variance. A variance can only be used on your own property and therefore that's not available to us. It is in 10t into the green space and we recognize that. But it's in the city's best interest to leave it in place for two reasons. First of all, if you look at my first slide here, um this is a judgment call because we have no other options besides your council. Um and your function according to the Peach Tree City website is to direct and control all property located in within Peach Tree City. And so we're relying on you to do that for our property. If you look at my next slide, you'll also recognize this uh from the Peach Tree City website. Peach Tree City has five strategic pillars and as you can see in the lower leftand

corner I've circled an attractive community. The fence is attractive where it is. It's up on a swale. My neighbor on the left hand side does not have a basement. I do. So the neighbor's very high and then you'll see on the next page there's a 10 and 1/2t drop into my property. So we live in a bowl and the green space is up behind a swale. a swale that's been created to keep the water behind that and the fences on top of that. It's very attractive. It goes down for the seven properties that are affected here tonight that we're talking about. So, we like to leave it in place. An attractive community [clears throat] brings in higher tax values. An unattractive community brings in lower tax values. If we were to move the fence forward, you can see in the next slide, you can see the fence is here. It's a five foot fence. And if we were to move it forward, it goes down the slope. And so now we have instead of this nice line all the way down the line, we're going to have something that kind of falls into a cliff. And so it's unattractive. My second point is that it is a green space. It drops branches and needles and pine cones and things like that that'll gather behind the fence if it's moved in. And so the city will have to take care of that um at the very least and if not maybe even grade it. So my second point is if you flip over one more slide um the community wants to be fiscally responsible and mayor I know you campaigned on fiscal responsibility. you have the postcard. And so what's more fiscally responsible than neighbors of Peach Tree City property owners taking care of the property for the city for free. So for that reason, I ask you to leave the fence in place. There are two options available. Um a $0 99-year lease or an easement. So there are options

available to you. I hope you will choose one of them. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next, please.

Carrie Walton's getting her exercise tonight. whenever you're ready.

Okay. Hi, I'm Carrie Walton. Um I live in the gate similar to my neighbors here. Um so I wanted to also say thank you for letting us come speak to y'all today. Um, I um want to first say that I support my neighbors. My situation is slightly different. So, I think I said I live at 357 Archway Lane. Um, I purchased my house in April of last year. We relocated our family from Savannah. I have two small children and their one request was to have a pool. So, we chose to relocate to Peach Tree City for all the wonderful benefits that it had. Um, we found this wonderful house, had a pool, we bought it. Um it had an existing fence. Um and then we found out that it apparently was put four feet onto the green space. U we were not aware of that. That was our fault. We totally understand that. Um it is on undeveloped green space property. Um it is not encroaching on another individual. So it's not on a neighbor's property. Um so our request is that you consider um granting us an encroachment or not encroachment, sorry, an easement. Um that would be if the land use changes that we would move our fence at our cost at that point. That is my request. That's it. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, please. Next speaker is Blake Rotor.

Good evening everyone. I'm Blake Rider at 345 Archway Lane, also in the gates. Similar to what my neighbors have said, we're in favor of leaving the fence as it is. I moved into the neighborhood this June will be three years. Uh the house has been there approximately nine years. I've never seen another human walking through the green space or behind our property until when one day a surveyor showed up. Uh similar to my neighbors, uh we have a pool and [clears throat] we're concerned about safety. If we move the fence uh to where the surveyor, city surveyor said to move it to, it would be so close to the pool a deer or a child could hop the fence and wind up in the pool. So, I think it would pro [clears throat] it would pose a safety issue. Additionally, again, the fence was put in by the previous homeowner. Like I said, we've only been there three years, the fence. And then there's also some grading and a retaining wall that was beautifully put in. Uh if we were to to demolish that. As the city inspector said, I'm worried about erosion from then the city property damaging our property. Uh so again, safety concerns there. Uh again, the simplest and most elegant solution would be to just leave the fence where it is. We're not coming up on a golf cart path or a road. We're not uh hindering any progress to the city. Like I said, I've never seen a human in this wooded space behind our house ever until that surveyor. That is all I have. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Next, please. Final speaker is Sean Emanuel.

Hey, good evening. Thank you, mayor and council members. My name is Sean Emanuel. I live at 353 Archway Lane in the gates as well next door to Mr. Santos and uh I'm here in support of my neighbors and uh asking that we get a variance to keep our fence where it is for all the reasons that they explained. Also would like to um I was also asked to proxy a letter from the neighbors that live on the other side of the green space in Soi at uh 130 Finhurst Point. It's Mr. and Mrs. Sislo, Daniel and Maggie Sislo. They wrote this letter and would like um me to share it with you guys. to whom it may concern. I am writing in support of my neighbors request for a special exception for safety to allow their fence to remain in its current location rather than being moved approximately 4 feet down a slope. Our property backs up to theirs, providing my four young children direct access to the fence line. I'm deeply concerned about the safety risk that it would arise if the fence were to be moved down the slope. Relocating it would reduce the effective height above the green belt to roughly a foot, making the fence dramatically easier for curious children to climb. In addition, the closer placement to the green belt would allow my children to push off the slope or vegetation to gain leverage, further increas increasing their ability to gain uh I'm sorry, their ability to climb over the lowered fence. This creates a serious risk of them accessing the pool in this area and potentially falling in. The fence's current placement provides a much safer and more secure barrier. The estimates they received also indicate um that the fence meets compliance best where it is now. For these reasons, I fully support the special exception for safety and believe it is in the best interests of safety for the fence to remain as currently in current location. Sincerely, Daniel and Maggie Sislo. That's all I have. Thank

you for your time this evening. Thank you. Uh agenda changes, council. None. All right. Yes, ma'am. Mayor, he does. Yes. Actually, on the uh consent agenda is Is now the appropriate time make a motion or we wait on the consent? You could Why don't you wait on consent agenda? Okay. Thank you. All right. Uh quarterly reports, questions or comments?

I want everybody to know that our staff does an amazing job of summarizing all of their many activities. It is readily available in our council packet. If you go to our city website front page, click on meetings, you can find today's date. And it is impressive. Our staff is very busy and uh we have a lot to be proud of. I don't have any questions. Do you? I I don't have any questions other than are we going to do the summary one and how long will that be for the full year? Annual report. Yeah. Yes, we plan on doing an annual annual report for 2025, which we've never done before. So, that'll be exciting. I think I'm planning I think I gave Kayla, my assistant, a deadline of the second meeting in March.

Okay. to have them too. [clears throat] Any other comments? All right. Minutes. January 15, 2026. City Council meeting minutes. January 15, 2026 [clears throat] executive session minutes. Can I get a motion? M. Madame Mayor, I'd like a motion that we approve the minutes of January 15th, 2026 city council meeting minutes and January 15, 2026 executive session minutes. I'll second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. Motion carries. Consent agenda. Mr. Polych.

Yes, Madam Mayor. Thank you. I'll make a motion to approve consent agenda items A through L with the exception that item K be removed from the consent for discussion. I'll second.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Motion carries. Before we take up uh item K, just like that, we have approved an appointment to the Faget County Library Board of Trisha Sterns. We've approved appointment to the recreation advisory group, Joe Tess Tessoriero, and we've approved Joe Campbell as our convention and visitors bureau board volunteers. So, I want to thank all those volunteers. If you're here and I called your name, will you stand up, please? THANKS TO OUR VOLUNTEERS. [applause]

WE ALSO JUST approved a $5,000 uh contribution from the Haffy Lincolnis Orthodontics. They want to sponsor some of our 2026 events, including our fatherdaughter dance, our family formal, and a mother son event. So, thanks very much for the generous contribution from Mafy Lincolnis Orthodontics. And at this time, we'll take up agenda item consent agenda item K, fiscal year 26 budget amendment 4th of July, 250th anniversary celebration additions.

Good evening, mayor and council. Um so for the Fourth of July the [clears throat]

um the additions that we've been looking at is you know we've researched several options of what we can do um for the 250th anniversary of our country this year and we have a proposal from a company to [clears throat] do a 15minute drone show prior to the fireworks this year that we're looking at. And then we are also looking at the possibility of purchasing some docking materials so that we can about 2,800 square foot so that we can fire the fireworks from Lake Pet Street and open up Drake Field for other events which we would then in turn uh try to potentially have a Sunset Sounds Fourth of July edition from 3 to 6 PM with a with an artist that would come out on the field and Then [clears throat] from 6 pm till the start of the show, we would then have the wind ensemble play during the show and while the show is going on. So, we've got a variety of options. We're just trying to secure some of this stuff. Um, you know, ultimately any questions that you have in that, just please let me know.

Thank you, council. What would be the lifespan of the docking if we're to purchase it? Uh, we're still looking into several options on that, but upwards of 20 years. And is that something you would have to maintain and store and ensure and repair? And

yes, it we would have to haul it out there every year, but it's, you know, 5 by8 sections that we'll be able to go out, you know, a couple of days before the event, set it up. Then they would load the fireworks on. I've already reached out to Power Technico, our fireworks company. Um, they can also do this. We would deck this platform with plywood so that it would have some fire prevention methods from the actual fireworks going off. But the ones that we're looking at, they've actually have landed helicopters on these docks. So very strong. They recommended this and you know they're looking forward to it as well. Um, I've already also reached out to the fire department and and accordance to what they already do where we set the buoys up for our perimeter where no one can be in, that would be extended around this dock on the lake. So, there would still be use of the lake prior to the fireworks, but we would have that perimeter completely on the water.

And and the uh line item amount of money is what? $100,000. Would you think if we purchased the material, if we purchased the dock material, then we would have it for all the subsequent years and that would change the way we do things at Drake Field in future years. Yes, ma'am. Um, right now we're currently looking at what can we do around city hall because, you know, we have food vendors that are set up. Um, we're also looking into to bring some inflatable slides for the kids to use out here uh by the fountain as well. So just trying to really do a lot for the city for the fourth for the 250th anniversary of the country.

Thanks Harold. And from a public safety standpoint since now we're opening up Drake Field be very packed. Do we feel is is there enough funding in there to to allocate for any public safety needs that we have? So, so [clears throat] this would actually help us in a lot of ways because all of the what we call the restricted zone would move from actually being in part of picnic park and part of Drakefield. It'll actually just be completely over the the water. So, it actually open up a lot of the areas. We wouldn't have to worry about the pavilion, those kinds of things because the fireworks are now away from them. So, it's actually we've actually asked for this a long time. It's just come to fruition where we could actually have the right materials to do it.

Great. Yes. We would also look at the Ralph M. Jones boat ramp launch area. We would probably go ahead and close that and utilize our fire department to be there. So, that's where we would probably put the fireworks on the water from. Um, and then we would secure that through that opening. Okay. Is there any concern just because I mean I can imagine if you have a dock out in the middle of the lake, people wanting to climb on it, is there ways if you're setting it up days in advance, is there ways that we can prevent them trying to put ideas in anyone's

head? We would we would try to set this up as close to the fireworks arriving because once the fireworks arrive on site, they have to stay and secure the fireworks there until the show is over. um the fire pyro technico does along with um you know PD and fire staying out there as well. But um yeah, it's actually easier for us to maintain that because it'll be in the middle of the lake instead of on ground where people can [clears throat] actually walk under a piece of caution tape and get to them. So Okay. Thank you.

Anything else? Um, does does the uh the money we're going to be spending, does that uh have in there the cost of the fire and police protection during the fireworks display? Is that included in this cost here or is there an additional cost over and above? No, that's that's covered our normal Fourth of July operating supply budget. Thank you. I have one question. Do we anticipate that the water level in the lake is going to be back up to normal by then or are you going to be actually doing this as a kind of a mud event? See, the plan is to start raising the lake back up in March. Okay. [clears throat] All right. Seeing no other any other questions

and just from the funding source, this is coming from the cash reserves one time use, correct? Yeah. Thank you. Well, I welcome businesses in our community to to match the city here and maybe we can then reallocate funding elsewhere. Uh this great opportunity, I think it's long awaited that we open up Drakefield. The event's really grown in popularity ever since I was a kid. So, this is a step in the right direction. So, thank you. Thank you. All right, council. Can I get a motion?

Hey, I'll make the motion, Madame Mayor. Um, I motion that we approve item K, the fiscal year 26 budget amendment for the 4th of July, the 250th anniversary of the United States and the celebration edition. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Old agenda item A, approval of a resolution. It is a pledge to practice [clears throat] and promote civility in the city of Peach Tree City. We've been through it in detail. Council, can I get a motion? Madame Mayor, I have a comment to make.

Let's get a motion and a second and then we'll take questions and comments. Madame Mayor, I'll make a You can go ahead. You want me to go? Okay. Madame Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve uh a resolution 02152026 pledge of pra sorry pledge to practice and promote civility in the city of Peach Tree City. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any comments?

Uh yes. Uh, my opinion about the GMA idea and policy of having cities of civility has not changed since I was elected to the council. It's a waste of time. Signing a paper doesn't make you civil. [clears throat] Either you are civil or you are not. A piece of paper with a pledge and some signatures on it does not, cannot, and will not make you civil. It may make you appear civil to someone who reads the name of your city on the GMA website. But let's look at the list of cities on the GMA website. There are 536 cities in Georgia. Only 93 are listed as cities of civility. That's just 17.35% of all Georgia cities. Plus, that number is down since last year when there were 135 cities. 42 chose not to renew it. Perhaps the 443 cities that are not on the list agree that this is not needed. For the record, let's look at some of the cities who are not on the list. The GMA is based in Atlanta. Yet Atlanta is not on the list. I wonder why. But neither is Nunan, Tyrone, Kennesaw, Fairburn, Sandy Springs, Columbus, Marietta, Alpharetta, or even Athens. And let's not forget Augusta, Valdasta, and Mon. The list goes on and on. In fact, 82.65% of all cities in Georgia have not signed a civility pledge. Do they feel like I do that signing a piece of paper to make you feel like you are civil is not as good as simply being civil? Maybe we should ask all of them, all 443 that have not signed. Now, let's look at what will happen if we don't sign. Absolutely nothing. There is no penalty at all. We won't lose any funding. We won't be kicked out of anything. Most citizens won't even

notice. Will they care? Maybe not. If we don't sign, we'll be the part of the hefty 82.65%, the majority. Life teaches us there's a huge difference between talking the talk and walking the walk. I think we should not sign the pledge until every council member can clearly say that for an entire year, we have seen civility from every member both on the deis and off. Right now, I won't sign. Council, any other comments? I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All opposed? No.

Motion carries 41. Thank you. New agenda item 22602, fiscal year 26 budget amendment annexation plan RFP. Shayla Reed.

Greetings, mayor and council. Um, this item before you tonight is a um opportunity for us to um hear of a proposal that was sent over to the city regarding the RFP for annexation plan update. Um this item um is not as you mentioned an action onal annexation. This is simply just a study that will be conducted if approved. Um the RFP was sent out on December 22nd of [clears throat] last year and they were due back to the city January 14th and um in the time of the proposals being received uh we received three. There were five individuals on our committee that reviewed the items and for the three that were reviewed, KB advisory group was um found to be the highest bidder based on scoring and you have that information before you in your packet. Um staff recommends that KB advisory group be the um I guess consultants use for this product. Thank you, mayor. And they're present if you have any questions. They are present whereight.

Oh, well plain sight. That's right. Uh would you mind taking the microphone and introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about KB and um your our consideration for your firm to to do this study? Sure. Is this a good mic or is that better? Either way. Either way you might be comfortable. All right. I I see the clicker over here. So just in case and start by sharing your name.

Sure. Jeff Ksky, president and owner of KB Advisory Group. Um we are a 25-year-old consulting firm out of Atlanta. Uh we were known as Blakeley Advisory Group for most of our our time, but um changed our name about six years ago. Um we are planners. Um we do work throughout the state of Georgia, throughout the southeast. Most of our work is focused on um really the economics of planning as we like to say. And so we get involved in all sorts of um interesting issues for cities in Georgia um including annexation, sometimes deanexation, sometimes municipal feasibility. So um we've done this type of type of work throughout the state for for many years. Um appreciate the opportunity to to uh send the proposal in and and um be with you tonight. Happy to keep talking if you want or you can pepper me with questions.

Yeah. What can we expect as a deliverable

u as a well okay so here we go so just just to um so you know some of the work that we've done and I'll answer your question just a second but just to give you some idea of the type of work that we've done as mentioned we've done work um you know for cities as close as Mcdana here um we were involved in a new city being created in Gwynet County Malberry which that feasibility study um is somewhat similar to an annexation it's kind of a whole city being annexed and created um we've done this type of work in Porterdale as recently as 2024 and we're doing um an annexation feasibility right now for Clarkston. So this is not the only work we do. We do a lot of work around economic development um in the state but again this this is this fits within our wheelhouse I would say. Um [clears throat] and so again just so just to run through this is straight from the proposal that we had sent but what we'll do is really you know establish the baseline um to to understand sort of what the what the current conditions are um what ends up happening really is is kind of to look at um you kind of think of this as a as a costbenefit analysis. So we look at, you know, different areas of the city um that may or may not be up for consideration or or that are up for consideration. Think about what are the benefits of annexing them particularly from the fiscal side. So what are the what are particularly the property tax um implications? What kind of revenue would you gain by um pulling these areas in? And then there's a cost side. So, you know, what does it what does it cost to service to bring the the city services to those? And so, um, at its simplest explanation, that's the way to kind of think about it, areas and parcels that, um, that may want to or that may need to be considered and, you know, is there a fiscal benefit from those? Um, so it's kind of a numbers

game, if you will. And so we would, you know, kind of work with you all, talk to each of you, get input from each of you to understand where those areas of interest would be, and we run those through this this analysis. And you can see with we're looking not just at property taxes, but also the idea of franchise taxes, sales taxes, and all the things that drive your budget, but obviously um as you know, property taxes um tend to drive the budget the most. And then looking at the expenditure side and then these net fiscal outcomes. And so to your question now, mayor, um the the deliverable would would involve a a report probably something like 40 or 50 pages of lots of numbers, lots of maps, um with with an executive summary so you can get right into you know what the what the recommendations are. And again, the recommendations would are not necessarily going to be you you must or you you have to or even that you should. It could it's it really wants to lay out the the the pros and the cons, if you will. um particular you know the quantifiable pros and cons. There will be some qualitative pieces to this as well but ultimately this is this is a quant you know it's a math question. Um and so um we'll we would deliver that. Um the idea is that we would be we would put on one public meeting near the end before it really comes before you to for consideration to make sure we're getting good input from the public. Um, again, I think it's it's a very technical study. So, it's not like a comp plan or a master plan where we just ask everybody what they want. We'll we'll work with you and stakeholders to understand kind of where we should be looking. But once we have some numbers, once we have some findings, then our we would propose to, you know, swing open the doors. Let's talk about this, see what the public thinks. Um, and then we would come back and present it to you and, you know, and then, you know, it's yours to kind of decide what to do with. Um, so we would work closely with staff um, with Justin

and Shayla and you know we can get this done in in about four months. Um, again there would be plenty of milestones along the way. We'd I'd be happy to come back and talk to you in the middle of it at in in a meeting you know um, as well just to keep you up to date if that is is helpful for you as well. Thank you council. Any questions?

Yes, madame mayor if [clears throat] I may. I've been a big proponent of doing a uh annexation study since I ran for election in 22. So, this is nothing new. Um I've been waiting for this for a long time. We almost did it a year ago, right, Mayor? We almost did and we weren't quite ready. We're ready now. We really need to take a look at what this city can potentially become by annexing properties in around the city. So, I'm really happy. I'm very much in support of this, Madame Mayor, and I think we ought to go ahead and approve this and get going.

Thank you. Any other questions or comments? Can I get a motion? Madame Mayor, I'll make the motion [clears throat and cough] that we approve budget item 02 262, a budget amendment for fiscal 26 for annexation plan per the RFP in the value of $65,000. You said budget item, you meant agenda item. It says budget amendment. I'm sorry if I made it incorrect. Sorry. uh fiscal 26 budget amendment annexation plan FRP value of 26 uh 65,000. Can I get a second?

Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. I. All opposed. Motion carries. Thank you. Thanks very much. Did you say a start date yet on this? He did. It was February. End of February. Tomorrow. Tomorrow. Definitely. Okay. Thank you. New agenda item 22603 reallocate pebble pocket splash [clears throat] pad CIP funding. Harold Leightton.

Good evening, mayor and council. So again, um we are looking to take the funding that was for the Pebble Pocket Splash Pad and move it into another CIP project so that we can now uh build a playground at the pickle ball complex. that's being currently built at Rockaway Road. Uh we also would like to purchase a um video trailer that we've been using for several of our events that we've been renting. Um we would also like to purchase some additional shade structures for all children's playground to since we had to cut the tree down because of the damage to the tree. And then we also want to use this to supplement with another CIP project that we currently have to add shade to Glenlock Pool. Um, so those are the items that we're looking to use this these funds for.

All right, we covered this in our retreat. Council, any questions? Can I get a motion? Madame Mayor, I move that we approve the Rio allocation funds from the Pebble Pocket Splash Pad project to other CIP projects within park enhancements in the amount of $391,000. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Harold. Uh, new agenda item 22604, fiscal year 26, budget amendment readily agreement.

Yes. Good evening, mayor and council. As [clears throat] part of our process, we're always analyzing city services and we did find a gap in city services um after hours mostly as well as just um when staff members are assisting people in person sometimes we are unable to get to the phone calls. So we were trying to find a solution and one of the solutions that came up is um an AI powered sort of assistant and we have a presentation from uh Bill Mor who's joining us [snorts] from readily just to give you a little bit more information about what is being offered and what type of service we're looking to bring into Peach Tree City to help mitigate that gap. Thank you for being with us. Bill, can you hear me?

I can. Thank you. Can you hear me? Absolutely. Thank you for having me today. My name is Bill Mor. I work with Readily. It's been a pleasure to work with Jasmine and uh the rest of the team. I also have online with me a solutions engineer who's going to show the uh proposed solution that we've uh developed for Peach Tree City so you guys can see it in action. Um I'll share just a few slides here so you guys have some context on the type of problems that we can uh help address. If you can just verify you can see this opening slide with um peach tree sympathy logo. Yes.

Beautiful. Just going through a couple slides. Um at a very high level, we readily modernizes resident communication with engagement tools that deliver fast and clear inclusive support. So any language at any time after hours on the weekends or even during a call spike, right? So there's a lot there's an issue that has a lot of people reaching out at the same time. We can effectively spin up infinite number of agents um that are all experts on the latest news from um the city and can advise uh your residents in any language that they'd like to speak to with the ultimate goal of just giving a better experience to the resident um getting them the answers or services that they're seeking for um faster and easier. um as a technology solution designed spec specifically for local governments um we are very secure and we take a lot of concern about keeping residents data private as well and as a result we've gone through all of the um compliance and security security uh certification that you would expect for uh a technology used by municipality. Um, we're also like a white glove service. So the um the solution could be enabled and in action very quickly with really minimal effort from your IT team or internal in general. Um, we have multi- channelannel support. So this could be a chatbot on the website. It can also be voice AI that interacts with people on your existing phone lines. [clears throat] Um, we want to meet the residents wherever they have questions. And again, as far as accessibility, there's over 200 language um support built in today. The whatever language you chat or speak in, simply that's the the language that the AI agents will respond in, which is really great to give all members of the community the same access to information that that we

have. And here's some questions that your staff maybe or your residents have that the staff's um hold helping with today. like do I need a permit for a particular project? What's my property zone for? Maybe they want to report a pothole in the street. Asking questions about billing from the utilities. Maybe it's maybe it's something fun like wanting to reserve a tennis court for those cool pickle ball courts that I heard mentioned earlier. Um and again, this could be in Spanish or any other of the 200 languages that we support. Um, this is, I know, a bit of an eye chart, but we've worked with many cities and counties and pretty much every department at this point. So, just to give you guys an idea of some of the questions that we can help residents answer. It's could be public works, permitting, non-emergency police questions, parks and wrecks, the library. Sometimes we're even helping answer county questions even though it's not our job, but people maybe are reaching out to us with the questions and if we can help provide helpful information to the resident, maybe we maybe we do such. Um, I'll stop for just a moment. If there's any questions on what I've covered thus far, happy to answer those. If there are none, we can jump into the demonstration of the Peak City solution that we've developed for the team.

Council, can we continue? Sure. All right, let's continue. Thank you, Mayor Tesh. Would you like to take over controls? Yes. Bill, can you hear me? Yes. Loud and clear.

Thank you. I'm Tesh. I'm the solutions engineer. Um, I will start sharing my screen in a moment. Make sure everyone can see this. [clears throat] All right. So, we set up a virtual assistant here on the chat as well as the phone, the voice. And this is fully trained on Pe's information. So, I'm going to start this out by uh cleaning out the widget here. Um, Bill, is this question out for you, too?

It's kind of bouncing a little bit around on our screen for some reason. Yeah.

Okay. Hopefully, this one's better. All right, I'll get started. So, um, just want to kick this off. We are in Petri City, so I thought I'd start off with a golf related question, but make it more um, realistic to basically emulate what a resident would ask here, which is, what is the golf card tag renewal deadline? [snorts] So you'll see pretty instantly we start answering that question. Um very direct and easy to understand. So it tells me about resident renewals and it tells me about non-resident renewals. Um in terms of the answer I just want to note that the source of information the source of truth we are using that's all official city information. It has been touched by a city official. This is a closed system. So we're not going into the vast internet onto Facebook to look for any source of information or updates. We have citations here for to prove that everything is coming from official source which takes me to real uh web pages on the website. And then for ADA compliance, Bill, I know you mentioned, but just tying it back, we have a pretty advanced here. Accessibility menu, all the languages that I can interact in, as well as uh text to speech and speech to text.

Resident renewals for 2026 to 20.

But looking at this question, let's say I'm not sure if I'm a resident or not. And I I'm sure you never get this question, which is am I in the city limits or am I in the county? So, I'm going to kick that off here as a followup to the initial question. [snorts] And as Boo mentioned, we try to meet the resident where they are. So, in this case, this is a geospatial question. Uh, we want to make sure we get accurate information. So, I can open up the map and I can pinpoint exactly where I live. Um, but as we can all agree, the more natural way of asking this question would be just mentioning what your address is. And in that case, what's really advanced here is that it's able to complete that again, pinpoint my information. So you will see it finds out the lat and long for uh my location. And what it does right now, it looks at the G GIS information for the city and it tells me that um this location is actually within city limits. So just closing the loop here. What so what is my deadline again? Uh so it it basically gives me a conclude concludes the answer here by telling me because you're inside the limit your uh deadline would be March 31st. There's also follow-up question. So we make sure to give a complete um experience. So predict what the next best question would be here. Um but just changing gears a little bit. We know zoning is a big topic especially for permitting building department questions. So I can ask what is my zoning info and once again I have the map and I can zoom in here. Uh, Chinese pitzier is enticing, but I think I'll go with an

address that might be more familiar to all of us [snorts] and enter that. You better be in pe.

It is a peach tree and it tells me the complete zoning information. So, it tells me the classification, the symbol, and then it it basically lets me know where I can find more zoning information as well. And then I can go into like landwide information, voting districts, utilities, um, all that good stuff. Now, here's a case where I'm not necessarily taking in information, but but providing information, which could be something like submitting a service request. So, in the case of reporting a fire hole, it immediately understands the context and it starts asking me my name and some basic information that would be required for this request. This is fully customizable. So I can choose to provide my email, my phone number. You can see here this is optional but this can be you know a mandatory field here. Again this time I'm going to zoom in. Uh let's say the country club here [snorts] it it I can upload photos. So you can imagine for people that are using this on mobile devices, if they're driving by and they hit a pothole, it's very easy and accessible for them to take a photo or pick something from their media. Just to interest of time, I'll say no here. Um and then it summarizes all that information um you know more organized manner and then I can confirm this. Now a couple things can happen here. We integrate with your systems. We layer on top of them. So we can go directly into the work order system and create this record. So we're not going to replace any existing city u systems, you know, for folks that are responsible for service requests or for building permit inspection or anything like that. We will make sure that it reaches them. Um but currently it's a setup for email as well. So I wanted to take a quick pause here. If there's any questions, we can address those. If not, I would love to go into

the voice side of things. Um, go ahead and continue the voice. All right. So, we set up a voice slide. This is a stage slide. Um, basically on my online application here, I'm making a call. Uh, this is exactly the same if I don't think we can hear your audio. You want to try sharing it again? Uh, can it hear my audio? No, sir.

See if Sure.

Tanish, are you Tanish? I have a question. Tanish, are you real or are you AI? Good question. I I'm I'm a person. [laughter] Thank Thank you. Can you prove it? I get that quite often. Surprisingly, I've heard it twice. I don't understand it. All right, let me try again. Hi, I'm Scout, Peach Tree City's virtual helper. I can answer questions, connect you with the right department, or speak in other languages. This call may be recorded to help improve service. How can I help you? Yeah, I want to add a bathroom to my house. Do I need a permit for that?

Checking permit requirements. Yes, you need a permit to add a bathroom to your house. Permits are required for additions and for any mechanical, electrical, or plumbing work done within the city. You must submit the required plans and materials to the building department, including construction plans and a site plan. Only files submitted through the online portal will be accepted. Would you like information on the specific documents required to apply for your bathroom addition permit? No, actually, I have a couple more questions. Can you just put me in touch with a live person for this?

One moment, please. I am now transferring your call to the building department. [bell]

Thank you for calling the city of Pet City. Please listen to the

So here um you know transferred to the number but this can be customized to go directly to the building department. uh the city clerk, PE public works, pretty much any phone number and we can map it out according to the request. So here you can see I asked a question, it gave me the answer, it followed up with me and then when I asked to connect to a live person is it was able to do that and specifically it could connect me with the team that's responsible for that request. Um, so it it goes off of context and and you know, we make sure that we get the person in touch with the per with the responsible team or the department that's responsible to get them the support needed.

And if I may add to that, um, I believe it was the mayor asked about Tesh being a human, which I can verify that he is. If you notice at the beginning of the call, um, we announced that it's a virtual helper. There's not legislation or policy necessarily in place that dictates that, but we think there should be honestly. And so we always will announce that it's AI, so no one feels like they're confused or being tricked about who they're speaking with. Um, also at any point, I know a common frustration with dealing these platforms is feeling trapped in a cycle where you're not able to find a resolution. So if any point the resident says, [clears throat] "Hey, I'd like to speak to a person, we will transfer them." And also the solution just works as well which I know there's a lot of um frustration about immature technologies out there. We've been around for more than four years and a lot of that time has been in development. So the solution will um give the residents the solution or the responses they're expecting and looking for.

Okay, time for questions. Council,

yeah, I have I have a comment and a question. Um, y'all have heard me call myself a recovering bureaucrat, and one of those reasons is because I used to be a director of constituent services for a large state agency. Uh, it wasn't the easiest work, but we integrated something similar and we saw so much progress in our response time and resolved cases and a lot of other state agencies duplicated the process as well. everything got streamlined and you know we had folks reach out to us who want to get in touch with another state agency and it's just when I think about it's time to modernize certain city hall services this is exactly it provides more efficient and quicker customer service which when people engage with their local government that's what they want um so I love this Jasmine I meant to or or just I meant to ask you this before um the the meeting just so I understand this I I see that we're allocating funding from savings the election is this one time for kind of test this out and do a pilot with kind of the vision to annualize it at a future date.

Yeah. So we the one time is a savings. However, this will be an annual contract that we'll pay for. However, we will budget accordingly for future years. Okay. So we we'll have a chance to review and make sure it's meeting your standards. And that's correct. Ted makes makes sure that all of our contracts have a clause in there that we can uh pretty much come out of it at any time. Cool. Thank you.

Yeah, I was going to say that's what I was just checking in the in the contract and it looks like we can terminate at the 312 and 24 month mark is what I'm seeing there. So, I think it gives me some assurance because this is a very outward facing service. Um I'm I'm glad you t talked about um the cycle. I know sometimes I'm just like I just press that zero until I can get to a to a human. [laughter] That's me. Um and so I'm I'm glad that there's a way to that if they want to get to um an actual live person that they can do that. Um the one question I have here is as far as any of [clears throat] these concerns that they might have, has it been tested that those concerns reach the correct department if it's done in a chat? Have you?

Well, we haven't set it up. They're just using a their own network, but in the process, we're actually going to work with all of the departments to ensure that it actually routes the calls correctly. So, when it is um installed, is that what Well, and in the chat too, like if they had a concern, you know, saying like they were reporting the pothole, like that gets to

correct. So, we'll set all of that up. Additionally, we will get a report that we can determine that not only what information that we need to put in the forefront of our website to make sure that people can access it quickly, but also to ensure that we're seeing what's actually being um submitted online, what is what are the calls about, what are the uh chats about to make sure that we have the most accurate information on our website when it comes to those things. Okay. Thank you. uh I was going to ask is there um like a feedback mechanism at the end of the chat that says was this helpful you know did you get all the answers and is there a way that that data is going to be like given back to us like

so that we can evaluate at the end of the you know time period before we go into the next fiscal year and say okay let's go ahead and do this you know is it working is it meeting the need

yes so Bill and and I actually was was talking the other day because um we have another platform that that does something similar where we get sentiment and we were actually talking about having those two talk to each other so we could have a public dashboard so the residents could actually see what's coming in and is it is it getting accomplished are they you know are we hearing are we getting multiple calls from the same people about the same thing that means they're not getting the answer when they called the first time and so we want to make sure we have a public facing dashboard and information and reports that we receive that and uh sort of ensure that the information that's being provided is accurate,

right? What I'm asking is I and maybe it is the same thing, but like at the end of the chat, you know, was this information helpful? Yes or no? like is it's I mean a very you know click yes click no you know whatever or and that that data should be compiled so that we at least [clears throat] have some method of saying okay people are navigating through and getting their answers as opposed to like what you just said getting frustrated and calling back three times going one of these times I'm going to get lucky and get through to the right thing.

Yes that's part of I mean that's something that we can build into the platform. um they're going to make it specific and custom for how you know things that we want to see within it. And a part of that is not just that this information when we do, you know, hey, did did this answer your question and then, you know, they say no and it's just not going anywhere. We're going to get reports and that's what I meant. Additionally, not only just an important uh report internally, we want a a public facing dashboard as well where our residents can see where their money is going and is this an effective program. Right. And and the other data that I would be kind of like looking for is what are the most common things that people are calling in for. Correct. So that's going to be compiled also.

We currently do that right now. Yes. Because we currently do that right now. Not necessarily the calls. We don't have access to that, but we do it on our website. We actually have heat maps and we have search um queries so we can see what people are looking for. We can see the most uh visited sites. And what we do is we make those uh links the forefront of our web pages. So this is now give us giving us the option to do the same with phone calls. Okay. And and we're just uh on our screen now we have uh what what I think what you were asking about it. So at the end of the conversation you can say were you satisfied with it which is nice. So we're getting a that's what I want

sentiment and also we're recording the topics so you can see how many people are talking about what and this is this is internal face and so Jasmine's talking about also making this data available to the public were more the the insights we have are more for staff use but you can say you can see if everyone has a concern about a particular subject and maybe that enables you all to you know create a press release to give more information and suppress some of those concerns so you can see what people are asking about what languages they're engaging in and how satisfied they are with the answers. If we're able if we're ever not able to answer a question, it's usually because we actually ourselves don't have a source to answer it. So, as you mentioned, we're only using the Peach Tree City resources and nothing else. And so, if there's not a web page that answers that question or we don't have a source for it, we'll say we're not able to answer that. And sometimes that's appropriate because they might be asking for a blueberry pie recipe and Peach Tree City doesn't want to supply that. But other times that question can help us reverse engineer and find out where there's data gaps on the existing website or maybe just out of date information. So go we weren't able to answer it because this web page needs to be updated. And so it can be helpful with that as well. And then the resident gets the the answer they're looking for at the next visit. I like the whole idea because not everybody functions on a Monday through Friday daytime schedule where you can call in, talk to somebody, get the answers, and a lot of people have trouble navigating the website and, [clears throat] you know, I still have troubles with certain parts of it. So, you know, I think this is definitely, you know, giving 24hour a day access to get that answer to the question [snorts] hopefully.

All right, Mr. uh Holly. Yeah, I have a couple questions uh for the staff. Uh how long or maybe for for Bill, how long will it take? First of all, I'm in favor of this type of use of AI. I love it. And so, how long will it take to get it implemented should we decide to go? I don't know if that's you, Bill, or or Jasmine. Yeah, it's gonna Well, we've already done a lot of the heavy lifting because the demonstration that we set up for you guys is I would say 80 or 90% of the way there. Um, so in a matter of a couple of weeks, we will roll out the chat session and then um it's kind of it's just from there we'll just want a lot of feedback from your team, right? And just make sure that hey, this is not only the correct answer, but that we're answering in the way that you'd like us to engage with your residents. So there's like a lot of quality assurance feedback. So then maybe like six weeks later we'll be kind of completely rolled out. That doesn't mean we won't continue to have check-ins and make updates, but I would say like two weeks to to get started. Then six weeks we should be kind of up and humming.

Okay. A couple of months. That sounds good. Uh second question is the cost. I see on your chart here it's a prata in the first year for 18,000. Second year is 40,000. Third year is 35. I I didn't quite understand. Can I get some clarity when you started this? Well, we're going to be doing this and maybe doing that. And what's which one of these costs are all the costs involved in what we'll be voting on? Well, this year you would only be uh paying that first 18,000. That's what I needed to know. Yes. Going forward, um well, it's because it's prrated, right?

Because of the fact that we're halfway through the fiscal year and Angela likes to make sure that we're on October one scheduling. So going forward, we'll make sure that uh we're on the uh fiscal year calendar. Okay. Thanks to you both.

All right. I I love it. I'm all for it. I I think the um [clears throat] the real uh benefit will come in the feedback we get from our citizens that clearly there's a ramp up period. And I assume that over time we have different responses in the evenings than we might have during the day when offices are open. And all those nuances are pretty hefty. But, um, I trust the system and Peach Tree City is ready for some AI for customer service. I think I think it's great. All right. Any other questions? Council, can I get a motion? U, Madame Mayor, I um move that we approve the budget amendment 2016 for the reallocation of funding for the an AI powered resident engagement service.

In the amount of $18,000. Thank you. for 18. Can I get a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Motion carries. Thanks very much. Yep. You sure it's not AI? Yeah. Thank you. Have a good evening. You too. Thank you very much. I still think Tanish was AI, but anyway, [laughter] he's laughing.

Uh, new agenda item 22605, fiscal year 26, budget. Amendment fire training tower. Chief Murphy. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um the fire department is requesting that you uh allocate funds for construction of a fire training tower at station 81. Um we discussed this during the retreat. We've discussed it several times actually uh over the years. Um so first thing uh one of the points that I made to you is this is about training our firefighters to be better. The second point is this is a cost-effective uh mechanism for us to actually construct this. This is not a uh traditional building if you will. Um it's made almost of scaffolding and can be moved into different configurations uh which we think is a benefit over uh traditional construction. [clears throat] So that's the those two points. And the third point is this gets us more points in ISO. Um so we uh like I've told you a couple of times we're at a 90.63 63 uh which is just over you had to make 90 to be a class one. So this would actually secure us a whole point uh actually a little over a whole point towards that. So we'd be at a 91.67. So gives us a little breathing room on our class one uh rating. So we're asking that uh you fund this construction for a new training tower at station 81.

Thank you council. We reviewed this in our retreat. Any last questions? Nope. Can I get a motion? Madame Mayor, I'd be delighted to make this motion. Last year, I took it out of the budget. This year, I want to approve it. So, Madame Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve item 022605 uh for fiscal year 26 budget amendment for the fire training tower in the amount of $353,000. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I.

I. All oppose. Motion carries. Thank you. Public hearings 22606. [clears throat] Consider a text amendment to revise land use regulations to permit cosmetic tattooing and microlading. Shayla Reed. The protocol is as follows. When the public hearing is open, members of council will become hearers. No action on their part is in order until the mayor declares the hearing complete. First, city staff will present the request and provide an assessment of compliance with city code. The mayor will then allow up to 10 minutes for speakers on each side of the issue to present evidence. No individual member of the public will be given more than five minutes to speak. Time limits may only be extended by a majority vote of council and will be divided equally between those supporting and those opposing the issue. The mayor will recognize the applicant and those supporting the issue to present evidence. Remarks will be limited to a total of 10 minutes. The mayor will then recognize those opposing the issue to present evidence for up to 10 minutes. Prior to closing the public hearing, city staff and the public will be given the opportunity to ask questions of either or both sides of the issue. When the mayor and council are assured that the presentation of evidence is complete, the public hearing shall be ended and the council may debate the issue and render a decision. All speakers from the public are asked to follow these rules. One, please wait to be recognized by the mayor. Two, come to the microphone and state your name and neighborhood prior to making remarks. Three, keep individual remarks under five minutes and do not repeat comments. And four, address all comments to the mayor. Thank you. Okay. Greetings again, mayor and council. The item before you is a proposed text amendment. Um, just to go through the schedule. As a reminder, this item was initiated on March 20th during a council meeting um in 2025. Um over the course of a few months, the planning commission held a few meetings to discuss the item and they provided a recommendation to you on September 8th,

2025. Um we are current tonight to hear what their recommendation was as well as to either make an approval or denial the action. Um so as mentioned, we are um here to discuss the proposed text amendment that would allow for tattoo [snorts] parsers. No, excuse me, correction, sorry. cosmetic tattooing, micro blading services, and body art. Um, we currently restrict tattoo parlors um inside of our or zoning ordinance for general commercial as well as property zone general commercial. Um, there isn't a definition. So, the staff report includes a proposed definition so that it has always been my recommendation if we're going to restrict something to allow for there to be a definition to assist staff um in understanding better. So, asking for that to be added. Um next um there isn't a definition for the the remaining um proposed uses. So staff is recommending definitions be placed there as well. And um we use the chapter 42 definitions that we currently have within our codes as well as what the state identifies as these uses. Um, so here you'll see four different definitions that are also included in your staff report that identifies the definitions of tattoo, cosmetic tattoos, micro blading, and body art. Again, these are definitions that the state has defined. And um, staff was recommending that if any of these were to be used as a use or restriction that these will be the codes or language that we use. So, um, originally when the item came before you back in March of last year, we were given direction by city council to give language that would be, um, for permitted uses as well as restricted uses. So, staff did that. We came up with language that would be proposed

for, um, permitted uses and restricted uses. So, if permitted, staff uh gave a recommendation to have light industrial zoning that does allow for um salon style uses. Um currently now it is allowed in light industrial. So, we recommended that when showing that to the planning commission, the planning commission asked for examples of where those locations were in the city as well as identifying what cities currently have um distance requirements and that as well as in your packet. But just to give you a little illustration tonight, your zoning map um shown in red are your general commercials. Those are your general standard um style uses for commercial. And then you'll see in the light pinkish purple color, that's your light industrial. So um this example here is Huddleston Road. So you would not because the land isn't purple or red, no one goes out to see and know that the zoning changes. They kind of all flow together. Um the uses look as if they're all in a commercial district. So they're immediately adjacent to each other. Uh this is the location along cross town as you're seeing that as well where commercial and light industrial are immediately adjacent to each other. And then lastly here you're going to see where uh Kedron is located. It's not immediately located but that is one location that allows for light industrial um on the northern portion of our city. So staff identified language that if it was a permitted use to be placed in light industrial. Um there is a recommendation for a 5,000 ft distance requirement. That was because um when hearing um the conversations from council during that meeting we were hearing that there were concerns about um the use and just trying to find a way to keep it where it was not being oversaturated throughout the city. Gave a recommendation for a distance requirement. uh staff wanted to ensure

that we did not give any recommendations to remove tattoo parlors. That is still being projected to remain as it currently is. That is restricted in general commercial as well as properties reszoned to general commercial. Bless you. Sorry. Um as a non-permitted use, um we currently restrict tattooers in those two zoning classifications as mentioned. So staff was just basically adding those uses to the restricted areas if you wanted to have the recommendation of uh restricting those uses. And madame mayor that concludes my report.

Interesting topic and we've had a lot of conversation about this. Uh but this is a public hearing. So at this time I will open the public hearing. Is there anyone who wishes to speak in favor? Go ahead and take the microphone and we'll have a five limit five minute limit per person. And just so I know what's ahead of us, do we have anyone else who wishes to speak in favor tonight? Thank you. You can go ahead anytime.

I thought the health department was going to be here speaking, but I guess they're not. Um, which makes me nervous because I was not going to speak. But um my name is Jessica White and I own Perfect Peach Waxing and I am at Peach Tree Parkway and Robinson Road. So I don't know where that works in regards to the zoning, but um micro blading for me personally and cosmetic tattooing is kind of a big part of my business. I haven't started doing it obviously because it's not legal yet in Peach Tree City, but I have a passion for it because I have a ton of clients who have had cancer or who have a condition where it's a nervous tick where they pull out their eyebrows or have different issues like this. And so for me, it's not so much of a c like a pick out a design and slap it on your body type of thing. It's more of a support for people's confidence for maybe trauma or different things that they've gone through. So I find it to be um really important as far as that's concerned. Um as far as small business owners, I own two businesses here in Peach Tree City. So I am a small business owner. I own a fitness studio and I also own Peach Waxing. Um so for that I have a ton of clients who are interested in this which I have to turn away which sends them to other places downtown. And so we're definitely missing out on a huge opportunity uh for small business owners to make money here as well. That's all I can remember off the top of my head. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I I repeat, is there anyone who wish who wishes to speak in favor? Seeing none, is there anyone who wishes to speak in opposition? Seeing none, I hereby close the public hearing. and council. I I've spent hours on this. Shayla and Justin have spent many many hours on this. Peach Tree City is unique in that we have a prohibition on tattoo parlors and that's across the board. I think we might have three establishments in Peach Tree City that do tattoos because they were grandfathered in a long time ago. So here we are trying to make a distinction in the definitions between tattooing which we can which to continue the prohibition and some of these cosmetic procedures that I think a lot of us would like to be able to allow. So, um, first question I have for Shayla. These com many conversations, we've had a lot of sitdowns and two people from the health department did join us this afternoon to have a real good conversation, but I think they had a conflict tonight. Um, are we here to be discussing only micro blading or are we discussing micro blading and cosmetic tattooing?

Thank you for that question, mayor. So since our conversations with the health department, they've gave us a very distinctive way of looking at the definitions which was very helpful um because staff would now say that the language here for cosmetic tattooing, micro blading um service as well as body art are um it would be basically just micro blading. Um because the cosmetic tattooing is very similar to your standard tattooing. Um so it would be just micro blading um that we would be considering. So, if staff was to revise this based on our conversation from today, you will see where we wouldn't recommend the component that allows [snorts] for uh cosmetic tattooing and body art to be included in this section for the permitted uses if you were to go in that direction.

Interesting. And I think it's important for council to understand that the distance requirement conversation is a conversation they have in other cities where they do not prohibit tattooing. And so they put a distance requirement in effectively limiting the number of tattoo parlors. Okay. If you I mean 5,000 feet that's that's a mile. You know, that's how other cities restrict the number of tattoo parlors that then can certainly do the microlading service. So, I'm not sure that that works for Peach Tree City because we're keeping that prohibition across the board. Um my if anybody has any questions I would like to hear them now and then after the hours we've spent on this I do have some suggestions as to next steps council questions.

Well now I'm even more confused than I was. I know. Yeah.

Because I mean I wrote my comments or questions or whatever. I was reading through this. I have the mayor can see I have highlights and little tags and everything. Um because my personal feeling is I don't want more tattoo parlors. I think the wise decision was made decades ago and it ain't broke. We're not fixing it. So I think that needs to stay and remain as it is. So now I thought this was changing things and I was going to try to make sure that we don't change what's already prohibited. So now, so I can make a prediction. We're gonna have to continue the vote for this, I think, because I'm just as confused as all.

I think that's true. I'll take any more questions and then I'll make a suggestion based on our lengthy lengthy conversations with the health department. Questions? Um, I'm just curious if this perfect peach waxing, what do you say? Peach tree and Robinson. Do we know offhand if that's light industrial? I haven't checked this on. You haven't checked. Okay. I was just curious. Ask AI. [clears throat] Wait, Peach? You mean Peach Street Parkway in Robinson? Yeah. So, you're right by the gas station? Yes. I live right behind you. Yeah. Yeah. I live in Crescent Oakes right behind there. Is that So, you're right by the veteran commercial district hospital. Yeah. There might sounds light industrial to me, but we'll check on that. Yeah. I don't know.

So, [clears throat] council, I I have a suggestion. the it is possible given the um really excellent definitions that we have. We can have a conversation about micro blading only and if you could move that slide one so that we can see the definitions please. Oh, that's not the one. One more time. It's page 120. Oh, there it is. So if we adopt these definitions which are carefully crafted in in line with the state, we can have a conversation about adding microlading only in certain locations like general commercial and light industrial. I would suggest that we do that and eliminate the 5,000 foot and that we ask staff to come back to us with a solution on enforcement because this ordinance will only be as good as it is enforcable. The um oh gosh, I'm going to get tangled up here. Shayla, help me out. But the the health department does inspections and they would come in and inspect every six months. And they also have a permitting process that differentiates between microblading, [cough] tattooing, body art, which is the piercing. And if someone applies for the micro blading only, then cool. And they can come out and inspect and inspect every six months. But can you take it from there?

I can. Thank you. So the um actions that you're mentioning, yes, they all have different style of inspections. The health department receives an application from them. They confirm what use they will have at the site. Um they go out and conduct an inspection at the time of issuance for the licensing and permitting. Um that is done at the first initiation of the uh license or permit. They go out once again after six months and they'll check every six months um to inspect that property. So yes, they do go out and conduct an inspection based on the information provided during the initial [clears throat] application.

So we could take a look at an a more effective communication system and that being that Peach Tree City will not release the occupational tax until the Department of Public Health permit is provided. And that means to us as staff. Did I say that right? Yes, ma'am. We spoke with the health department to try to determine a way that we could work with this process. Um I will say it was left to say that we need to figure out that process um because we don't have that yet defined but we are willing to work to see how we can make that work. Is that reasonable?

I believe it can be. would it be? And and I want to point out that the planning commission studied this with a certain set of parameters and what they came back to us is if we want to make it a permitted use, use this verbiage. And if we want to make it a non-permitted use, use this verbiage. But I submit that there's uh a different conversation to be had. And I think if we decide to direct staff, as Suzanne said, uh to take a look at micro blading only, eliminate the 5,000 ft, look at what is look at allowing it in general, commercial, and light industrial only, and then establish this um communications channel with the Department of Public Health for enforcability. I think we can come back to council with something that we could probably get behind. Y

okay just answer my question. Yeah. So micro blading is really like very light upper layer coloration.

Yes. So microb blading is a form of tattooing. Um it is a lighter version different ink. um but it gives a um lesser of a long-term effect than a standard tattoo but it still gives a tattooing um function. Okay. So beyond that would be considered body art which would be the form of tattooing that we have banned all over the city with the exception of our three grandfather places. So that yes that and cosmetic tattooing those are all considered the standard tattooing that we typically have.

Okay. See, I got I got kind of like twisted with the discussion of referring to it as cosmetic tattooing versus the body art tattooing. And I'm like, which is which? You know, how do you you know, where's the crossover? And because I'm looking at it like if you're doing permanent makeup tattooing and calling that cosmetic tattooing, that's the same as body art tattooing as far as the depth. Correct.

Correct. Um according to the health department um again the mayor has mentioned that we've met with them their conversation is that the uh micro blading component is a different ink. It's a the same exact instrument to install um and it's just a different uh I guess a different depth of the skin determines which is which a permanent more so cosmetic tattooing will have a deeper um layer into the skin but then microbing is not that in in depth. Right. Yes. Yeah. I would think the micro blading would be the way to go and leave the other stuff still the way it is.

Staff, does what I said make sense? I I is went ticked [clears throat] through some bullet points and is it reasonable to come back with the verbiage that we need? Yes, ma'am. All right. Um, do I need a motion on this? We had our public continue it to a future meeting. Madame Mayor, I'll make a motion that we continue this uh to a different date in the future when staff is ready. You want to do the second meeting in March? That that could work. Yes. And second meeting in March 2026. I'll second that motion.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Thanks very much. It was very, very time consuming and staff did a great job. Uh, public hearing 22607, consider a text amendment to section 917 of the city's code of ordinances related to short-term rentals. Shayla Reed.

Yes, ma'am. Okay. So, just as well as a reminder of the actions held on this item, um it was initiated by city council August 21st. Your planning commission heard it on January 26 and has provided um their comments and recommendations to you inside of their staff report or inside of my staff report. And we're here tonight to move forward with the action. Um either way, um as as um mentioned previously, this item is discussed in the World Cup um during the timing of June 1st through July 31st. Um it is where property owners could have for their homes to be identified as short-term rental without being required to receive a permit or being required to pay any fees. um they are um given the opportunity to have the advantages spilled out in the August Augusta rule, I'm sorry. Uh where they're able to earn an income for 14 days or less without having to be subjected to um income taxes. Um you're seeing here in red the proposed language that would be identified as the text amendment if approved. Uh with that said, mayor, that concludes my report.

Thank you. Um with that, this is a public hearing. Is there anyone who wish who wishes to speak in favor? Seeing none, is there anyone who wishes to speak in opposition? Seeing none, I hereby close the public hearing. Um, council, again, I I would like to start because our planning commission took this on and they had I watched the video. They had a very responsible conversation and they had concerns about protecting our Peach Tree City citizens during this um period of time. So um it seems that there were two main themes that our planning commission members were concerned about and they were very diligent on this. one was requiring a registration and the other was establishing a reliable point of contact for the purpose of public safety and protecting Peach Tree City citizens. Um I did summarize that and called Scott Ritnau the um planning commission chair and he agreed that those those were I don't want to speak for other people but he agreed those were the two salient points and so I wrote an email to the housing bureau and fay it forward president uh mayor Eric Dial and this is what he came back with as far as assuring us that those two points would be covered. Um, number one, the back end of the SA Soccer Housing Bureau website will contain info for all registered property owners, [clears throat] including the property owner's contact info. Uh, the mayor will have Mayor Dial will have access to this info and has agreed to share it with city managers updated on a weekly basis starting in miday. The registration information, interestingly, will be different from

properties listed versus properties rented because there's a difference. You might list your house and then you don't get any takers or you decide later that you don't want to rent it out. You're in the listing, but you don't have a renter. As of today, which was uh about two weeks ago, 12 properties in Peach Tree City were listed and none so far were rented. Note that HOAs still have the authority to prohibit rentals if that's what their documents state. So, Mayor Dial followed up even after that with [clears throat and laughter] clarification that the primary point of contact will be the homeowner, but if they are unavailable, the housing bureau will be the local contact. So, I just again I want to thank our planning commission. they take up every detail uh that we don't think of and ask questions maybe we wouldn't have asked. So, I appreciate their hard work on this. Um maybe we'll start on the end with the soccer player.

Well, I'm I'm certainly all in support of this given followup [clears throat] that we had and the clarification of the concerns that we had from planning commission. So, appreciate Mary Dial for following up and providing those details. And if folks want to make some extra cash this this summer, they're more than welcome to. I I do hope that we can just educate our homeowners of what the process is. Hopefully, we can send out an infographic and all and clarify some points for them so they're fully educated before they they go into this. Thank you, Miss Johnson.

Yeah, I would agree with all of that. You know, I think there's definitely some differences that we have here in [laughter] our short-term rental. So, it's just, you know, making sure our citizens are aware, but I think, you know, we have a big opportunity with World Cup coming here and um I think it's great for our area and I would love to support it. Okay, Miss Bro.

Um I agree. We definitely need to have the people register. Um and I I too checked out the soccerousing bureau.com and saw that there were 12 listings on there already. Um one of the other things they the contact person is a big big thing that was discussed heavily by the planning commission. But there was also something else that they talked about. Um Mr. Chris had made a suggestion that copies of our short-term rental guidelines should be provided to all homeowners who list their property during the suspension just so that they would know kind of what we would normally require. And I mean it can be done just email them a copy of it. You know, it doesn't have to be a paper copy.

Um but I think that that's good. The only other thing that I was kind of curious about is um I did look at the dates for the games in Atlanta. The first game is on June 15th, which is a Monday, and there are a total of one, two, three, four, five, eight games, and the last game is on July the 15th. So, I was kind of wondering whether we should narrow the dates just ever so slightly, which would be significant. If we're doing this just for the World Cup games, then there's really no point in doing it way in advance or way after the games are, you know, before they start and after they're over. So, I was going to suggest that we possibly consider that the the window of opportunity for this would only be from Saturday, June 13th through Sunday, July 19th. That would effectively take about four weeks out of the mix. I mean, we're basically throwing out our short-term rental policy. And what I looked at very carefully when I came to this conclusion was that the Augusta rule, which is what we're really trying to in put in place here, the equivalent of the Augusta rule is only for two weeks. And the golf tournament starts on a Thursday and it ends on a Sunday. So, you get the week leading up to the masters and the week after. And that's it. that's when they allow their their thing to be in place. So that's why I was thinking maybe we should just kind of like hone in on the exact dates and that would be my only my only request. Otherwise, I'm in in support of this.

All right, Mr. Holland. Yeah, I'm in I'm in full support of this and I do like what uh Councilwoman uh Brown has said about narrowing, but there's always things like delays, there's weather, there's people moving in and moving out, they are on the last day, and if they move don't move out right away, are they over the limit? I I I would stretch it just a little bit more to give the people moving in and moving out a little bit more time and not so narrow, Miss Brown to maybe expand that out just a little bit more. Doesn't mean we have to go all the way from June 1st to July 31st, but maybe narrow it down, but not necessarily too much narrowing just in case there is some delays and things in the games and all of that. You just never know what's going to happen with sports events. Otherwise, I'm very much in favor of this.

Um, council, I would suggest that as advertised, this is for as as written, the period of June 1st through July 31st, and that the five of us should probably stay on the balcony and not the dance floor [clears throat] and uh and maybe we could go ahead. Yeah. Well, I would suggest that we go ahead and uh and get a motion for the period suggested. Madam Mayor, if I if my I just ask where did that time frame come from that I gave? No, just the June 1 to July 31. Was that at the local or is that replicated from somewhere else? It came from the housing. I think it came from council. I think that was a suggestion was that two-month time period. Okay.

I I don't know that anybody had researched the exact dates of the games.

I agree. in Atlanta. So, I I went ahead and I did that. And I think some of the local renters, you know, short-term rental people are going to have problems because there's there's one game on like the 15th, which is a Monday, and a different game with two different teams on Thursday. So, people are going to be coming and going. It's not going to be really, you know, long stays. So, you know, I mean, there's games on the 15th, 18th, 21st, just a few days later, 24th, 27th of June, and then in July, the 1st, the 7th, and the 15th because by then you get into more like the playoffs. So, uh, or semi-finals or whatever you want to call it, [clears throat] but

I think part of it was too, this is just me, I don't know if it was said in a council meeting or not, so don't quote me on it, even though I'm quoting here. um is we could we could end up getting you know families of players or anything like we don't know. So they'll be here early to train and they may stay late like we don't know. So I know the June the June 1st date was people may be coming early. July 31st I mean it just kind of I guess that was probably just a nice round two months. Um, but I I know that early was considered because of people may come early.

Well, and I think like this is a worldwide event. If I'm going to another nation for one thing, probably I might stay there for a week or two. You know, I'm not moving out as soon as that game is over. It's a it's a quite an investment for these people to come here that distance. And I would say we we should encourage them to stay and to spend. That's exactly,

you know, Madam Mayor, I'll take back my account, my what I said before. I think it makes good sense that we keep it right where it is at June 1st through July 31st. I know I'm backtracking a bit here, but you're right. We could have people coming in do a little vacationing in our country, staying here in Peach Tree City, spending more money here. Uh, I think we should be accommodating. So, I think I'd like to leave it right where it is. So, I'll take back what I said earlier. All right, council. Can I get a motion? I'll make it if it will. Sure. Go ahead.

Yeah. [clears throat] Madame Mayor, I make a motion that we we can approve it right now. Okay. I I make a uh a motion that we approve uh public hearing item 022607, the text amendment to section 917 of the code of ordinances related to short-term rental. Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say I. I. All opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Council staff topics. Oh, I Oh, you go. No, you go ahead first. I got

I just had one. Um Kenneth Hamner reached out to us in an email. He will um in the future no longer be serving on the planning commission, but would like to still continue work on the UDO committee. He asked that we um rewrite the requirements for that committee. I think right now it is those serving on the planning commission who are able to serve on the UDO committee and changing them that to anyone who currently is or has served on the planning commission to be able to serve. So I would support that. I would support that. Same. All right. Okay. Who needs to make the change? I think the staff will take care of agenda. Right. Good. All right. Anybody else? Yes, ma'am. Mayor,

go ahead. Current.

Okay. Two. One's lighter than the other, so I'll save the lighter one for the end. Y'all may have heard about all the Pinegate fiber installation issues. I didn't know be six weeks into this tournament. I'd get so impassionate about a topic. Uh I find absolutely unacceptable what those residents went through with the fiber installation, the hitting of four different water lines being out of water. And I want to first thank Justin and staff and county for meeting with AT&T leadership which ended up in a stop work order ended up in that subcontractor being fired and them hiring a new one. But I do I don't want it to happen again and who's to say it won't and if we need to put more teeth into something to ensure that we protect our residents because it's one thing they come come in and tear up their lawn. I think a lot of us also want fiber. So like that there is a side there of this is just part of modernizing infrastructure around the country and here in Peter city but some of it is just unacceptable and if we need to find more teeth or do something in ordinance or something to strengthen something I'm I'm more than happy to to help research that but I just don't want it to happen to another neighborhood because a lot of them are still dealing with it they're having to come out of pocket to make repairs and costs everything that was associated with with some of the the waterline breaks. Um so that's that's my one. I don't know exactly the next direction. Maybe that's just a topic we can discuss later and see. But um Ted and Joseph, if you all have anything to add, but if not, I can move on to the lighter item.

I could have sworn we did some sort of a rightaway encroachment ordinance where they have to do certain things. Um, let me double check that and make sure that we have done that and get back to you with what we have on the book. Dave Dave runs it so Dave can speak to how the process works.

We We do, Ted. We have a a right-of-way permit application. We And that's why we were involved with the water system with the meeting with AT&T because we issue the permits and and whatnot. So, um, we do have a process. They submit plans, all that stuff. So [snorts] those those cases that happened recently, they were AT&T admitted they were at they were the fault of the the subcontractor doing the work. So and our does our ordinance say that they have to leave it as they found it? Does it say it in there?

Yes, they have to repair uh what they do and and Cinnamon's pretty much the the watchdog on that. She she gets on them. So, I was going to say since you're new, councilman and uh I don't know if the rest of council knows this, but Cinnamon, who's our admin for public works and engineering, she does a very good job of staying on them and making sure that they do go back and then citizens will report to us like, you know, they tore up my yard, they haven't been back. Cinnamon will go after them and make sure and a lot of other cities and counties that doesn't happen, but we we try to do we try to hound them and stay on them until they come back and do it. But the tricky part is is we do permit it, but they do have the right, you know, to work in their easements.

So, it's a it's a balancing act. And unfortunately, you know, this situation happened with the subcontractor. So, we just hope that AT&T selects a better subcontractor. Yeah. Ford.

Yeah. Um and then, so thank you again for the response because it was it was immediate and uh staff came to the table quick. The other one I just want to give a shout out and to us in the consent agenda. We passed paid parental leave for our city employees, six weeks paid and uh it's something I think as a city we pride ourselves in being families first and us replicating this as a dis as a council and it's a cost-effective method to attract families and also recruit and retain the next generation of city employees. So I'm just proud of this DAS for approving that earlier. So thank you.

Wonderful. Miss Brown.

Um yes, I I tried to reach out to Justin earlier today. That didn't work out. I had a secondary issue to talk to you about Justin. Um I wanted to do it not on the deis, but I think I'll talk about it on the deis. But uh one of the things that we discussed at our retreat was using the resource officers from PD during the summer on the cart path system to try to get a little bit of control of some of the violations and stuff. What I wanted to toss out as a possibility is is there some unused salary money that we could authorize whether auxiliary overtime something with PD to maybe start that earlier because people are you know I don't know whether I really I mean I'd like to not necessarily have to wait all the way until schools out to start seeing a little bit of a little bit not a huge amount

I'll defer to chief a little bit of enforcement If you haven't noticed this week, we've had somebody on the path every day this week. So, we are taking a look at staffing models and scheduling. Knock on wood, we are currently fully staffed. So, that puts our budget, there's not a lot of excess in the budget savings as far as salary expenses, but we will take a look and we are monitoring that. I had a staff meeting this Tuesday afternoon. We discussed a staff retreat and what the plans were going to be and uh so the patrol commanders are aware and they're trying to take measures to make sure they're out there a little more. We did we did have a resident tonight ask us what the vehicle was out at battery today and it was the smart it was a little smart vehicle.

Um so when somebody was out there today and then uh to caveat what you said, you did reach out to me. You called my work phone and I've been running around all day. So, I have been working. You should have called myself. The only one everybody doesn't know is I tried to catch him in the hall before and dropped my water bottle and the glass went everywhere. Anything else? Clean that up. All right. Anything else? I'm done. Miss Johnson, did you have council staff topic? I already did it. Mr. Holland, I'm going to surprise Ted and say Ted, I don't have anything for the second meeting. All right. Do we have executive session? We do. We need to discuss. I marked both, but it's just pending or threatened litigation this evening. I need a motion.