City Council - Regular Meeting

we'll observe a moment of silence.

Thank you.

We'll start our evening with a presentation, commemoration of Joel H. Cowan's 90th birthday with an online exhibit. And first up is our library director, Jill Prouty.

Thank you. It's an honor to be here tonight to unveil the latest exhibition on behalf of the Joel Cowan History Room at Peachtree City Library. The Joel Cowan History Room was established in 1987 under library manager M.T. Allen to collect and preserve documents and artifacts pertaining to the formation and history of the city of Peachtree City and the surrounding area. We've done a lot of collecting over the years. But our latest push has been to make these items publicly accessible. First, I'd like to thank Rebecca Watts, the librarian who really kicked off the effort to identify the items in the Joel Cowan History Room, and especially to all the volunteers, including those who conducted and or transcribed the oral history interviews from over 20 years ago, and that includes Mary Maude Heaston. She's somewhere here. There she is. And special thanks to the Friends of the Peachtree City Library for supporting the work that goes on in the Joel Cowan History Room, including the purchase of supplies, and to Lee Eltzroth, I don't know if she's here tonight, for creating, she spent a lot of her personal time creating finding aids, many of which have been added to our online repository. I'd also finally like to thank Charlie Nelson for his boundless enthusiasm for local history and his willingness to share his knowledge and resources. So out in the lobby, and I believe we have some over on the table here, if you picked up one of these cards, this lists our digital resources on the back. There's a QR code at the top that will take you to the web page for the Joel Cowan History Room, and you'll see links to all of these URLs on that page. So I am going to, I'll take this, can I take this with me? Are you able to project it? Tell me if you bring it up, I'll just keep talking. Okay, so tonight I wanna draw your attention to our new online exhibit titled The Development of Peachtree City, A New Town for South Metro Atlanta. This exhibit attempts to tell the story of the founding and development of Peachtree City in no more than 15 slides. A lot of people were involved in Peachtree City's development, too many to mention in this exhibit. What we've tried to do is pare down the story to its essence with a focus on the early years. There will be a link added for a Who's Who at a later date where we will include others such as Bob Bivens, Miriam Fulton, and others up through the later development under Doug Mitchell, including Jerry Peterson, Rick Schlosser, and many, many others. So the work is not done. We will keep adding to it. History is a tricky thing. Many claim to have the definitive history on a variety of subjects, but I'm here to tell you, history isn't ever definitive. That's why historians continue to write books on significant historical events such as the founding of our nation. History is never really settled. I think most people now accept that even eyewitness testimony can be problematic. You can have two people witness the same incident and tell two completely different accounts. The best we can do is study the resources available, especially the primary sources, and contextualize and synthesize the information to try to draw some conclusions. So, all that said, we are here tonight to honor Joel H. Cowan. And I think most people, not all, but most, who know something about Peachtree City history can agree on the following. Peter S. Knox Jr. of Thompson, Georgia was the visionary behind Peachtree City, and Joel Cowan was the person he hired to carry out his vision. Many people called Joel the founder, as do I. I use the word founder in the boots on the ground sense. He lived here. He managed the project. He raised his family here. He had skin in the game. He spent a lot of time around the pot-bellied stove at the old McWilliams grocery store, soliciting advice from locals, including where to dam up Flat Creek to create a lake. Joel put in a lot of sweat equity with the help of his cousin, Chip Connor, who became the city's third mayor and for whom Spyglass Island was renamed two weeks ago. The two of them bulldozed the city's first residential street, Hip Pocket, and built the second dam on Lake Peachtree, the one that Joel designed himself and lasted for over 50 years until it was replaced by the piano key weir that opened in 2018, if you can believe that. And here's where I'll offer my personal slant on the history. After absorbing and synthesizing, that's a hard word, synthesizing all the information we've gathered about Peachtree City's history, there is no doubt in my mind that Joel was charismatic. Remember Mr. Knox the Visionary? He was so impressed with Joel that he hired him at 21 years of age while he was still a student at Georgia Tech. I love telling our summer interns this story. Then when the money for Peachtree City ran out and Mr. Knox was kind of losing interest in it, Joel took it upon himself to try and find additional investors, eventually arriving at a businessman based in New York City named James F. Riley Jr. You know Riley Field and Riley Parkway, right? Mr. Riley worked for Bessemer Properties, an organization not really interested in property in Georgia, but he took a shine to Joel. And the injection of capital from Bessemer gave the Peachtree City project new life. I also tell our interns about the importance of networking. There were many reasons why Peachtree City could have failed in those early years like many other new towns in the United States. But Joel H. Cowan believed in it and he convinced others to believe in it too. And here we are, and here he still is, 67 years later after the city was first chartered. And by the way, he turns 90 next week. Mayor Lernert, would you please join me at the podium? Did we ever get our screen? That's all right, that's okay. Take a card if you don't have one already and look at it at home.

Thank you, Jill.

Peachtree City is honored to formalize a proclamation for the Joel H. Cowan Day. Whereas, while a student at Georgia Tech in 1957, Joel H. Cowan caught the eye of Pete Knox, who hired him to oversee his Newtown project in Fayetteville. in Fayette County, and whereas Joel H. Cowan is known as the boots on the ground, founder of the city of Peachtree City, having moved into a Knox prefab home, is that true? A Knox prefab home on Shake Rag Hill in 1958. and working with Floyd Farr to gain the trust of local farmers, and whereas he helped craft the legislation establishing the city, following its progress through the Georgia General Assembly in 1959. And whereas Joel Cowan served as the first mayor of Peachtree City, putting in sweat equity with assistance from his cousin, J.K. Chip Connor, bulldozing the first path that would become the city's first residential street, Hip Pocket Road. And whereas he used his ingenuity to design and build the city's second dam, again with the help from his cousin Chip, after the first professionally designed one had failed in 1961 in a massive rainstorm, am I right? and the second dam would last until it was replaced in 2018 after about 50 years. Joel Cowan secured funding to keep the development of Peachtree City afloat even when the situation looked bleak. Searching far and wide for capital, catching the attention of James F. Riley Jr. of Bessemer Securities Corporation in New York, And whereas he worked faithfully with organizations, both private and public, to establish both the physical and the social infrastructure necessary for a successful city. And in 1987, the Joel Cowan History Room at the Peachtree City Library was established to collect and preserve documents and artifacts pertaining to the history of Peachtree City. And tonight we recognize its new online exhibit. And whereas his 90th birthday offers a special opportunity to express our deepest gratitude and celebrate the enduring legacy and monumental contributions of this remarkable individual to our organization and beyond. Now therefore I, Kim Lernard, Mayor on behalf of the City Council of Peachtree City do hereby proclaim June 23rd, 2026 as Joel H. Cowan Day in honor of his 90th birthday. And we encourage all who know him to join in celebrating his visionary leadership and legacy. Thank you.

In the middle.

In the middle. Three, two, one.

One more, three, two, one.

OUR NEXT, HOW ARE WE DOING OVER THERE? ALL RIGHT. KEEP US POSTED. OUR NEXT PRESENTATION IS THE FISCAL YEAR 2025 ANNUAL COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL REPORT. AND IF EVERYBODY MAKES IT TO THE DOOR, I DON'T BLAME YOU.

Nothing wrong with that.

I don't blame you either.

Hang on a second, David. Let them all walk out.

David, could you test that for us real quick?

That's good, though. I mean, they were here for a good reason.

We've got some issues tonight with the video. Poor Jill didn't get her stuff put up there.

All right. Well, that was a hard presentation to follow. I'll try to do my best, though. Well, again, good evening, everyone. Hope you all are doing well. Again, my name is David Irwin, and I'm with Malden Jenkins. I was the partner who oversaw this year's audit of the 2025 financial statements, and I certainly appreciate the opportunity to be here with you all this evening to discuss with you the results of this year's audit. For tonight's presentation, I'll start off by providing you all an overview of our independent audit report. I'll talk about the two compliance reports that we issue in conjunction with the audit. I'll hit a few of the financial statement highlights. I'll discuss some information that the auditing standards requires that we communicate to you all. And then last but not least, I'll answer any questions you all may have. So again, my role here tonight is to translate a very technical document into what actually matters for governance and decision making. Now, the financial statements themselves that have been presented to you all are the responsibility of management and members of the council. As your independent external auditors, our responsibility is to express an opinion on these statements. We conduct our audit in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards and governmental auditing standards, and I'm happy to say that we are issuing a clean or unmodified opinion on this year's report. This is what you want. This is the highest level of assurance that we can provide as your external auditor. What this means is that, in our opinion, the financial statements are considered to be fairly presented in all material respects in accordance with general accepting accounting principles. And, you know, In your shoes, most importantly, it means that you all can rely on these statements as a sound and credible foundation for your oversight, your policy decisions, and for guiding the city's financial direction going forward. Again, as I mentioned earlier, as part of the audit, there are two compliance reports that we also issued. The first of which is a single audit report. A single audit is a compliance report that is required when an entity has over a million dollars in federal expenditures. You all had around $8.7 million of federal expenditures in FY25, all of which pertain to the ARPA funds that you all received. As was the case with the financial audit, we are issuing a clean or unmodified opinion on the single audit as well. The second compliance report is the Yellow Book Report, which is a report on the city's compliance with various laws and regulations. Again, very good news here. We noted no audit findings this year, meaning there were no significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in internal control that we identified during our audit. Again, for a city of your size, there is a significant amount of financial activity for which you all have to be accounted for. Um, in addition, given the significant volume of new accounting standards, um, reporting requirements, and really just the overall complexity that comes with financial reporting. It makes it that much more impressive for you all to receive a clean opinion, no audit findings. Um, and to me again, that's a significant accomplishment. It, um, it reflects a high level of discipline, um, consistency and oversight in the city's financial operations. And, uh, again, that's certainly something that council, uh, management and everyone involved in the city should be proud of. I do want to thank Kelly, um, Dustin, their staff for all their hard work this year. you look at your financial statements, they're over 150 pages long. So needless to say, there's a tremendous amount of time and effort that goes in the audit process. Everyone was very accommodated our audit team. They worked hard to address all of our questions and get us all the necessary information that we needed in order to get the audit finalized by the by the deadline. So again, just certainly appreciate all their hard work in this year. Now for a brief overview of your financial statements. You all prepare what is called an annual comprehensive financial report, otherwise known as an ACFR. An ACFR requires the inclusion of additional information that goes above and beyond the basic financial reporting requirements. This document is submitted annually to the Government Finance Officer Association, otherwise known as the GFOA. where they put it through a pretty stringent review process. When the GFOA, when they review the city's ACFER, their goal was not to assess the city's financial health. It assesses transparency, accuracy, and completeness to ensure that the readers of your financial statements have the necessary information to be able to do so themselves. Through this review, the GFOA has once again awarded the city the certificate of achievement for excellence of financial reporting. The city has been awarded this certificate for 37 consecutive years. This is a very impressive document. It's one that you all should be proud of. And again, it's just another example of you going above and beyond and continue to raise the bar for transparency and high quality financial reporting. So again, congratulations to you all on that. Before we look at the financial statements, I always encourage everyone to spend some time to read through the management discussion analysis, otherwise known as the MD&A. This begins on page five of your financial statements. It's written by management. It really does a good job of bridging the gap between the technical financial statements and the story behind those numbers. This section highlights major changes, highlights trends, it provides side-by-side comparison of the past two years financial activity. If you ever find yourself asking why did this increase or what caused that change, the MD&A is typically where you'll find your answer. So again, if you can, please take the time to read through this section. Now the city's basic financial statements, they're broken down into three components. The first of which is your government-wide statements. The government-wide statements, they provide a broad view of the city's operations in a manner similar to that of a private sector business. So rather focusing on individual funds, this section, all the financial activity is combined into one to two columns, depending on the nature of the fund. You have a column for your governmental activities, and then you have a separate column for your business type activities. So we have a slide here that summarizes the city's financial activity for the year from the government-wide perspective. But again, as you can see here, the city end of the year with assets and deferred outflows of resources of around $282 million. Of that amount, around 166 million are your capital assets, net of accumulated depreciation. Again, capital assets, that's the land, buildings, machinery, equipment that is owned by the city. uh you all had around 96 million dollars in cash investments at year end looking at your liabilities inferred inflows of resources they're around 47 million of that amount around 28.8 million are long-term in nature meaning they're not due within the next fiscal year revenues were around 103.7 million that's an increase of about 13.4 million compared to prior year expenses around 80.4 million And that was a slight increase of about 1.4 million compared to FY24. So, this resulted in an ending net position of approximately 235.5 million. And that's an increase of around 23.3 million for the year. To break that down a little bit more, of that increase, about 7.2 million came from your business type activities, and around 16.1 million came from your governmental activities. You know, again, all in all, a good year from you all from an NEY perspective. Your balance sheet is strong. You're in a good liquid financial position to pay your current obligations. Revenue growth outpaced your expenditure growth, which again contributed to the overall strengthening of the city's financial position during the year. So, you know, again, when we look at governments from an audit standpoint, you know, three of the things we mainly look at are liquidity, your operating results, and comparing that to your long-term obligations. And the city is in a really strong position in all three of those areas. So again, congratulations to you all on that. The second component of your financial statements are the fund level statements. This is what you all typically see throughout the year. This component focuses on individual parts of the city and report your operations in more detail than that of the entity wide statements. And, you know, of all the city's funds, if I'm in your shoes, my primary focus is the general fund. You know, the general funds, the main operating fund of the city is where the majority of your revenues are received and funds expended. So we have a couple of charts here on the next few slides. Uh, this first chart shows the general funds revenue for the year. Um, total revenues around 56.9 million. That's about a $3 million increase compared to FY 24 again, taxes. Um, obviously, you know, continue to be the biggest revenue driver for you all. Um, it was around $47 million and it accounted for approximately 83% of the general funds revenues and taxes that includes your property taxes, your sales and use taxes, your business type taxes and other miscellaneous taxes. Um, a couple other, uh, items worth mentioning city had around $4.1 million in charges for services and $1.8 million in licenses and permits for the year. So, you know, when we look at revenues overall, um, revenue performance were consistent in line with our expectations. Uh, this next chart presents the general funds expenditures for the year by function. Um, the expenditures total around 52.6 million. That was around a $5.9 million increase compared to FY 24. Once again, no surprise, um, has, has this of a case with most governments, public safety, uh, continues to be a significant expense. Um, it was around 26.2 million. So it accounted for approximately half of the general funds total expenditures. couple of other expenditure items worth noting, city had public works expenditures around 5.2 million, and general government expenditures of 12.1 million for the year. So when you factor in other financing sources, such as transfers to another front to and from other funds, as well as the sale of capital assets, the general funds fund balance increased by approximately $1.7 million for the year for an ending balance of 35.6 million. So Um, again, overall revenues and expenditures were in line, um, with budgeted expectations. Um, revenues were around $111,000 over budget and your expenditures were $2.3 million under budget for the year. So, um, you know, from a governance standpoint, this does indicate that, uh, you know, you all manage your resources in a manner consistent with the financial plan approved by council. So simply put the city finished the year. um in a stronger position than you all originally projected so again more good news congratulations you all on that uh this next chart shows the general fund's fund balance for the year i'm sorry fund balance history over the past five years and you know i always think it's kind of helpful to step back and look at where you were compared to where things currently stand and uh you know to me this chart tells a really a really good positive story um While there have been some fluctuations from year to year, overall fund balance has increased approximately 65% since 2021. That kind of progress, it doesn't happen by accident. It reflects disciplined budgeting, sound financial management, and again, it's something that really everyone involved in the city should be commended for. And as I mentioned to you all before, know fund balance is not the same as cash sitting in a bank account available for discretionary spending fund balance is the difference between assets and liabilities only a portion of which is cash and again more importantly fund balance represents the city's liquidity your flexibility your ability to respond to cash flow needs emergencies as well as unanticipated expenditures So we have a slide here that further breaks down the general fund's fund balance. Again, total fund balance was approximately $35.6 million. Of that amount, you all had around $650,000 that's classified as non-spendable. Those are things such as your prepaid assets and inventory items, something that you cannot spend. In addition, you all had around $2.5 million has assigned fund balance, intended to be used for a specific purpose. In this case, this was assigned for next year's budget. And that leaves approximately $32.5 million left as unassigned fund balance to be used for city operations. And another thing to take into consideration when you look at your fund balance, the general fund incurs expenditures of approximately $4.4 million per month. So you all ended your fiscal year with an unassigned fund balance of approximately seven months' worth of operating expenditures. And that's a strong fund balance for a community with a September 30th year end such as you all. As I mentioned to you all last year, it's common for governments with a September 30th year end to be a little leaned at that time because it's right before your property tax revenue is coming in. Um, your fund balance is, is oftentimes what we see, um, for governments that have a December 31st year. So, um, cause the December 31st, you're, you're just getting your, uh, you're just getting your property tax revenue and your, your fund balance increases. So again, for you all to have the fun mouse you have, especially with you all being a September 30 year in. is really certainly it's impressive and it's something you all should be proud of and you know not to belabor the point but um you know governments that don't maintain an adequate fund balance um often end up reacting to financial pressures instead of planning for them and you know when you have to react instead of instead of plan that can lead to higher taxes it could lead to deferred maintenance it can lead to borrowing so In other words, fund balance is the difference between being financially stable and living paycheck to paycheck. In addition, as I've mentioned before, property taxes represent a significant portion of your revenues, and they're cyclical in nature. So again, a strong fund balance provides you all the cash flows necessary to get you through months when revenues are lower than they are at other times during the year. Again, as you can see on this slide, other reasons to maintain a strong fund balance, again, to cover significant emergencies, unanticipated expenditures. It provides you all with the flexibility to fund discretionary spending. There's a potential for better interest rates when you all issue debt. And again, it's certainly important in uncertain economic times. So again, the city's fund balance, it reflects responsible financial practices Um, long-term planning and a commitment by you all, uh, for financial stability. So again, um, that's certainly something that really everybody involved in the city, uh, should be proud of and commended for a couple other, uh, funds. I want to briefly mention are the city's three enterprise funds, which again is your stormwater, um, your water sewer and your amphitheater fund. Again, we talk about enterprise funds. They're used to account for operations in a manner similar to that of a private sector business. The intent of these funds would be self-sufficient and to generate sufficient operating revenues to cover their operating expenses. And we have a chart here that shows the operating revenues and expenses for these funds. Again, as you can see, all three of these funds continue to do quite well. The stormwater and water sewers funds, they had operating income this year. The amphitheater fund was relatively flat, but all three funds generated positive operating cash flows. And again, all three are in good shape financially. And certainly that's certainly something you want to see out of your enterprise funds. One final item to discuss with you all is just certain information that the auditing standards requires that we communicate. Again, the city is receiving a clean opinion with no audit findings. We receive full cooperation from management and staff. there were no disagreements with management. There were no significant issues discussed with management that would have affected the financial statements. Um, there were no uncorrected misstatements. And, uh, again, we are independent of the city, uh, has, has required by government law and standards. And, um, you know, our, our independence to you all is what gives this report credibility without our independence, our opinion would not matter. And with that, um, unless anybody has specific questions that concludes my presentation again there's a lot of information in your financial statements what i've tried to do is just hit the highlights and what i think is most important to you all you know i will close by saying that again you all remain in a strong financial position you know strong organizations are built on effective partnerships and local governments are no different council provides a vision of direction and management executes that vision. And, um, this, this report, uh, certainly reflects that partnership. So, uh, we certainly appreciate the opportunity to service to you all and, uh, look forward to working with you all in the future.

Thank you very much, David. Uh, council, any questions, comments?

Oh, just congratulations to our financial team. I think 37 years of winning this award is, um, quite significant. So congratulations and thanks for all you do.

David, I got one question for you, David. If you were to sum up everything you just, I mean, it's 162 pages long, the report. And I'm glad it only got into about 10 slides. People would be going to sleep here. But I think it's important to leave them with a one-liner. and I'm gonna tax you with that one liner that you would tell the citizens of this city about the financial strength and the way we manage this city.

Impressive. Pride. I mean, this is an impressive report. Again, nothing but good news. Your fund balance history, that speaks volumes. you all are where a lot of communities would love to be.

There was a reggae singer years ago called Bobby Farron. I don't know if anybody remembers him, but he's the one who said, don't worry, be happy. And I think that's a good message to give to the citizens. Don't worry, be happy, enjoy your life. We got things taken care of with a great staff and a good council.

Thank you very much, Dave. Justin, is there anything you want to say about this report? It's pretty incredible.

Yeah. I think David covered it all. The one thing I will say is we're moving right from this report, and Monday we'll be going over next year's budget. So this is our financial focus time of year. We hope to continue with how we budget to maintain the city and the strength that it is.

no thank you i will say that moan and jenkins is a great partner as well thank you appreciate that thank you david thanks for being here our next order of business is a presentation uh in light of the 250th independence day celebration we have a proclamation honoring the 250th anniversary of American Independence and the Peachtree City Liberty Tree. And I am going to read this into the record. It's a special year. Our staff has worked extra hard for a special selection of our grand marshal at our parade. We're going to have the best parade ever. We have the Georgia Mass Band coming again. We have an incredible fireworks and drone show scheduled and a number of new events at Drake Field. So stay tuned on all the details. uh, recreation department and our wonderful staff to think, whereas on July 4th, 2026, the United States of America commemorates the 250th anniversary anniversary of the adoption of the declaration of independence, marking two and a half centuries of freedom, self governance, and the pursuit of Liberty. And whereas the semi quintentennial, I practiced that. Semi-quincentennial provides an opportunity for Americans to reflect upon the courage, sacrifice, and vision of the men and women who secured our nation's independence and established the principles upon which our democracy was founded. And whereas among the enduring symbols of the American Revolution was the Liberty Tree in Boston, Massachusetts, which served as a gathering place for patriots advocating for freedom, and self-determination and became a powerful symbol of resistance to tyranny and devotion to liberty. And whereas, although the original Liberty Tree was destroyed during the Revolutionary War, its legacy continues to inspire generations of Americans to cherish and defend the freedoms secured through the sacrifices of those who came before us. And whereas in 2025, the city of Peachtree city in partnership with the sons of the American revolution and daughters of the American revolution, planted a Liberty Tree at City Hall as a living tribute to the ideals of freedom, resilience, patriotism, and civic responsibility. And whereas the Liberty Tree stands as a lasting reminder of our nation's history and serves as a symbol of the values that unite our community and our country, And the city of Peachtree City now unveils a commemorative plaque on July 4th at the Liberty Tree site to honor the significance of this historic symbol and to ensure future generations understand and appreciate the sacrifices made in pursuit of liberty and independence. And whereas the citizens of Peachtree City join communities across the nation in celebrating America's 250th anniversary, and recommit themselves to preserving the freedoms, opportunities, and democratic principles that define the United States of America. Now, therefore, I, Kim Lernard, Mayor, on behalf of the City Council of Peachtree City, do hereby proclaim July 4th, 2026 as America 250 Day and Liberty Tree Commemoration Day. in Peachtree City, and we encourage all residents to reflect upon our nation's history, honor the sacrifices of those who secured our independence, celebrate the blessings of liberty, and participate in activities commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States of America. So proclaim this 18th day of June, 2026. Let's hear it. Thank you, staff, for that wonderful proclamation. Announcements, award special recognition. We have no more. Public comment?

Yes, Madam Mayor, we have four individuals signed up to speak. The first person signed up is Heather Harding.

Good evening, Mayor Leonard and fellow council members. My name is Heather Harding. I'm president of the North Cove Community Association, representing about 100 residents in our neighborhood. I'M HERE TONIGHT TO SHARE SERIOUS CONCERNS FROM OUR HOMEOWNERS ABOUT THE NORTH HILL MULTI-USE PATH PROJECT NOW UNDER CONSTRUCTION ALONG PEACH TREE PARKWAY. SINCE WORK BEGAN ON THIS LAST WEEK, CITIZENS HAVE BEEN SHOCKED BY THE SCALE OF THE TREE REMOVAL THAT'S BEEN REQUIRED FOR THE INSTALLATION OF A 10 FOOT WIDE PATH. WHAT WAS ONCE AN ICONIC PEACH TREE CITY TREE CANOPY HAS BEEN SEVERELY AND VISIBLY DAMAGED. The character of north peach tree parkway, arguably, I think one of the most beautiful corridors in our city has been dramatically disfigured. Now we understand this is only phase one of a multi-phase path expansion that will eventually extend north to Kedron Hills and then south to smoke rise. If the same clear cutting approach is used on the future phases, even more of the parkways tree canopy will be lost. Public Works has confirmed that no plan to restore or replant the green belt has been developed yet. They also confirmed that this design includes no physical safety barrier along approximately 800 feet of this new path, a path that's going to sit six feet from the unlit northbound lane of Peachtree Parkway, leaving path users dangerously exposed to traffic with no protection. And additionally, this new path design as it's designed currently will allow users to cross over the parkway and go directly into and out of the main entrance of North Cove. Now this creates a legitimate trade traffic safety hazard. And for the first time introduces cut a cut through route into our, into the North Cove neighborhood. And this both the safety aspect and this transportation aspect are deeply concerning to our homeowners. So tonight, I respectfully ask for you to consider three actions. First, restore the greenbelt. We ask that the city complete its replanting plan to restore the parkway's canopy with a commensurate level of trees and softscape, and then share this plan with the impacted neighborhoods. Second, install a safety barrier along this new path. A rail or some other hard barrier should be added along the full length of this new path to protect users from traffic on the pathway. And lastly, reevaluate the approach to these future phases. We ask that you reconsider this clear cutting approach and explore alternatives. This could be a retaining wall or any other items that preserve as much of our existing tree canopy as possible. So on behalf of the thousands of residents and commuters who travel on Peachtree Parkway every day, I thank you for your time and consideration of these important issues. Our community cares deeply about public safety, about responsible planning and preserving the beauty of this great city. And we ask that you help us work to protect these values going forward. Thank you. Thank you. Excuse me. Excuse me.

Thank you. We don't applaud and we, I just want you to know we serve in a listening capacity only, but we will absolutely be discussing the issue. Thank you.

Next speaker is John Rapp.

Good evening, Council. My name is John Rapp. I'm with Botero Carts. I'm here today regarding the new enforcement measures that have been taken by the city, which have caused a significant strain on our business. First and foremost, we understand and appreciate the city's efforts to improve safety on the golf cart pass and preserve what makes Peachtree City such a special community. The golf pass system is one of the city's most unique and valuable assets, and we fully support reasonable measures that help ensure its long-term safety and sustainability. That said, the recent enforcement measures have created significant challenges for our business. Based on current standards, a large portion of the carts currently sold throughout the entire industry no longer qualify to be registered with the city. For example, there are only two manufacturers who manufacture a six-seater golf cart that qualifies to be registered with the city. There are only two dealers in the city who have the territory rights to be able to carry these brands, leaving every other dealer with no options. Overnight, we have lost 20% of our sales just on this single issue alone. Additionally, we have lost another 30% of our sales due to the weight restrictions placed on other brands we carry. I'm not sure what the whole weight restriction surrounds, but I'd be interested to hear the council's thoughts on differences between 1,300 pounds and a 1,500 pound unit. These outdated weight restrictions are not up to date with current industry standards unfortunately. Dealers with the exception of two simply cannot compete due to lack of options in the industry that fit these enforcement measures. Our future, our future in this city looks bleak. Currently losing 50% of our sales is detrimental to any business. We will be forced out of business in no time at our current current pace affecting 18 employees and their families. We just signed a new 10 year lease at our new mobile drive location. And the developer is going to be disheartened to know that we will not be able to follow through with our commitments to him due to these enforcement measures, our local charitable and tax contributions exceed over $2 million. in the short time since we have been here. That too goes away very soon if council does not hear my plea tonight. I thought it was very eye-opening listening to David talk about the finances. As a business, I think you think that You're just a drop in the bucket to your contributions, that the pot is much bigger than it really is. And seeing what I saw tonight, I realized that our business actually is a much bigger contributor than I anticipated. We believe the cart paths are one of the major reasons so many families choose to move to Peachtree City. Maintaining accessibility to safe, affordable golf carts is important for preserving the culture that makes this city so great. These restrictions have unintentionally limited local residents' golf cart options and created an uneven marketplace where only a small number of models can remain eligible for registration. In addition to limited consumer options, there will be many customers left with previously purchased carts that can no longer be warranted or worked on if the selling dealer is forced out of business. This unintended consequence could leave thousands of residents with carts that have no debt, no value, and no dealer able or willing to work on their cart and closing first. Let me thank you for taking the time to hear my plea tonight. Our hope is to be part of the conversation moving forward and work collaboratively collaboratively with the city to help identify practical solutions that balance safety goals with the realities of the current golf cart industry. We believe there are more inclusive measures that can help contribute to safety on the golf cart pass. And we would greatly appreciate. the opportunity to discuss and contribute to the implementation of those measures with the city. Thank you for your time consideration and service to the community. We are grateful to be a part of Petrie city and hope to be serving this community for many years to come. Thank you guys.

Thank you. Next please. Nicole Braun.

Good evening.

My name is Nicole Braun. I reside 1002 North Hill Road and I am the current homeowners association president for North Hill. I'm here to discuss the multi-use cart path project as well. I have three areas of concern and then three requests that I'd like to get to. My first area of concern is bait and switch. So a little history on bait and switch. When I first became made aware of this project about a year and a half ago, I worked with then city engineer David Borkowski and John Schnick, then assistant city engineer, over the course of about a year, multiple meetings and discussions, and I was informed that our gates and columns would need to be relocated about 10 feet interior, so moved back in our development further in order to make room for the cart path. Subsequent to that meeting, then the HOA embarked, we hired an engineer to get drawings, engineering drawings for the new columns, and those were submitted. after a significant lapse in communication from those two, I reached out to the city and said, you know, what's, what's going on. I was informed that those two were not, were no longer employed by the city. Um, and they weren't sure who was in charge of the project. Eventually I was put in touch with Jonathan Miller as the project lead now. um jonathan did invite myself and one other hoa officer to a zoom meeting with the path contractor this was on may 15th and at that time the discussion was that the columns may not have to be moved and probably weren't going to be moved because it was a cost limiting issue and that at that time There were concerns expressed regarding drainage as a result of that decision and also some safety concerns that were brought up. So it was decided that at that May 15th meeting that there would be a site visit before a final decision would be made and we would be included in that site visit. Well, to my knowledge, that site visit has not occurred or if it has, we certainly have not been included in that. However, my understanding is that the columns and gates will not be moved. and the resulting path will go within four feet of the existing columns. So that's my bait and switch concern. Number two, safety. The new proposed path, as I said, will pass within four feet of the gate columns with a significant decline in the elevation going down to this column. I have concerns that carts will collide with the columns and the resultant repair and cost will fall to the HOA. Additionally, I have safety concerns with the new cart traffic pattern that's going to ensue. North Hill Road, it's a horseshoe shape and there's gates and columns on both ends of the horseshoe. And a cart traveling southbound on the new path, if they want to continue southbound into the smoke rise portion, they're going to have to turn left around our current column onto into our road, head facing oncoming traffic and then turning right onto the cart path. So my concern as a resident is I leave that curved area going downhill. I have limited visibility. A cart could be turning left right in front of me and I wouldn't have no visibility of that. So that's a major safety concern for me. Thirdly, aesthetics. Since project inception, the North Hill homeowners have voiced concerns about the loss of the green belt and resultant attenuation of the sound and visual barriers of the parkway. I have stood before this very council before and express these concerns and have been repeatedly assured that there is a landscape restoration project that would alleviate my concerns.

As of today, your time has expired. Thank you for your comment.

Thank you. And again, we're serving in a listening capacity, but we will absolutely have the necessary discussions. Thank you. Next please.

Carrie cook.

Good evening, my name is Kerry Cook and I live at Lakeside Drive. I'm addressing the subject of cart path connectivity that's being endorsed by the Atlanta Regional Commission, Fayette Forward, and others. I would first like to share that I have a petition that I want to file with the Mayor and Council that includes 161 signatures, almost 200 citizen signatures. We, the citizens, do not want to expand our cart path system to allow more golf carts, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-trikes, and e-hoverboards onto our cart paths, thereby creating more traffic and dangers to pedestrians and golf cart travelers. I might note that we do understand and agree with the connectivity to the Stars Mill School area that was recently completed, though. We think that there are many unintended consequences from further extending our paths. At present, for example, there are not enough police to monitor the cart paths and stop those who are speeding and traveling dangerously. I might note that while golf carts are registered and now to display the registration numbers on the front and rear of golf carts, it's my understanding that e-bike scooters and e-boards are not registered and do not show a registration so that a number can be associated with an individual. I just recently was collecting petition signatures at Battery Way down by the lake when a teen passed through at an excessive speed on an e-scooter when children and others were walking back and forth to get into the lake there at the boat dock. The individual did not slow down, and when I told him he was going too fast, he uttered profanity to me and kept biking through at an excessive speed. I believe that if further connectivity is sought to be moved forward by council, that the issue should be offered up to citizens in the form of a referendum to be voted on and not a simple vote approved by Fayette County and the mayor and council. We respectfully ask for your attention to this important issue. I don't believe that the Peachtree City founders intended our cart paths to be extended into other cities or counties, thereby putting more pressure onto our cart paths for additional cart maintenance, more costs to be borne by Peachtree City citizens, and additional monitoring by police. We want to keep Peachtree City a great, livable, well-managed village community, not an expanded and congested cart path thoroughfare. Thank you.

Thank you. Anymore? The final speaker is Ferry Wortham.

Good evening, mayor and council. My name's Ferry Wortham. My husband Joe Wortham and I moved here in 1974. Our family was raised here in 1970, uh, from 1974. And I'm proud to say that our son is the first general that grew up here in Peachtree City, and he's active now. He's Army. We also established the first landscaping garden center in Peachtree City in the building still up on Highway 74. We share the history because Peachtree City has been our home for five decades. Our family has also believed in serving the community and our country with gratitude and pride. I have served as president of Homefront Families of Military Heroes. It's a God and country domestic nonprofit corporation established in 2019. My family has lived the military life for almost 38 years, and that experience deeply shaped my understanding of service and sacrifice. Our organization has also donated two Homefront Family of Military Heroes albums to Peachtree City History Room as a lasting contribution to our community and history. After visiting the memorial in Washington, D.C. years ago, I reflected not only on the courage of those who wore the uniform, but also on the strength of the families and children who stood behind them. Those families carried burdens that were often unseen, and their support made military service possible across generations. Each of our ancestors, every person in this room in this country, really around the world that has anything associated with the United States, where our military somehow have served, our ancestors have served in the military function somewhere or the other. The key here is that the long, enduring separation, hardships, death, uncertainty, frequent moves, disrupted careers, and the emotional weight of supporting a loved one through service and sacrifice, the wives and children have always carried that back. We are the backbone of this nation, while our servicemen serve overseas. Their strength holds families together, supports those who serve and have preserved the values of duty, courage, patriotism, and commitment that protects our nation. This is why the monument, we're asking for a monument. This is why a monument matters, because there's only two monuments in the nation that honors family and children. Um, and in talking with them, they said, fair, you get this up. We want a picture and put it in our main headquarters. That's the, uh, ghost art moms. If any of you are familiar with ghost art moms. So we're throughout the nation and the world. Uh, a monument is more than a stone or metal. It is a visible statement of what a community or country chooses to honor, remember, and pass on to future generations. In this case, I would recognize the faith, endurance, devotion, and sacrifice of military families and their children, and people who have also served our nation in meaningful ways either in service but are not always recognized, which the wives and families are never basically recognized. Our organization is seeking support for faith, family, and freedom. That's our motto, Homefront Families and Military Heroes Monument. We believe Peachtree City is a fitting place for such a tribute because the community's long valued patriotism, family, and civic pride. This monument would not only honor military families and children, but also create a place of reflection for- Your time has expired.

Thank you for your comment.

visitors and future I want to I want to thank you and we also have your email with some of this information too and I appreciate your comments tonight okay thank you thank you very much

agenda changes Council we have one unfortunate at this time we can no longer take comments but we can talk afterwards

agenda changes Clinton yeah madam mayor I'd like to take new agenda item B and move it up to be discussed right now because of the urgency that is required with that resolution did you make a motion do I have to make a motion doing yes okay madam mayor I make a motion that we move item

it's the new agenda item be oh six twenty six oh six resolution to immediately discuss at this time second I have a motion in a second all in favor say aye aye motion carries new agenda item B six twenty six oh six resolution to introduce local legislation regarding el host Jasmine

Yes, good evening, Mayor and Council. The Georgia General Assembly convened a special session in which they are allowing, they're considering local legislation authorizing the local homestead option sales tax. This resolution just states because Fayette County, excuse me, Fayette County is currently pursuing the potential of having a referendum on this. The state law requires for every municipality to approve it. So this resolution states ALLOWS FOR THE DELEGATION TO APPROVE A LOCAL ACT FOR THE CITY. SO IF THIS BALLOT, IF IT DOES GO ON THE BALLOT IN NOVEMBER, PEACH STREET CITY COULD BE CONSIDERED AS PART OF THE REVENUE.

All right, thank you. What do you need as far as a motion? A motion to approve the resolution as stated.

Madam Mayor, I make a motion to approve item 06-2606, resolution to introduce local legislation regarding El Host.

second I have a motion in a second all in favor say aye aye motion carries thank you minutes June 24th 2026 City Council work session minutes can I get a motion madam mayor I move that we approve the minutes as submitted motion and I have a motion in a second all in favor say aye aye motion carries consent agenda item a new alcohol license J Alexander's and B donation acceptance from Rotary Club of Peachtree City can I get a motion yes madam mayor I'll make a motion for both consent to items a and B I always like taking money in so item a and B to be approved second I have a motion in a second all in favor say aye aye motion carries thank you and with that we just accepted an eleven thousand dollar valued uh golf cart from the rotary club of peach tree city um this is a heavy duty gas powered vehicle again peach tree city rotary club has donated to the city and it will be used for uh pd path patrol so we we extend a very very sincere thank you to the rotary club yes thank you All the agenda items. We have none new agenda items. 6 26 0 5 fire station, 85 construction manager at risk approval of GMT chief Murphy.

Good evening, mayor and council. Um, this is not the actual approval. We're kind of off a day. This is, um, the. where I give you the information and then we're gonna bring back this for the actual vote on July 9th. So we've been working with Mija who is the contractor for this and also ISE and GMC who are all our partners in this and we are close to having the guaranteed maximum price ready for you That will be presented on July the 9th. Initial cost estimates and constructability have been determined that it will be in budget and will meet all the parameters that you've set forth in earlier meetings. So I'm here if you have any questions, but there's no action needed tonight.

Thank you. Council, any questions?

I have one. Yes, sir. Chief, this is just for... And then a manager for the upcoming construction of this. Okay. Correct me then.

No, sir. This, this will be the guaranteed maximum price will be coming from all of these partners from media. This will be the maximum amount that the fire station will cost.

Okay. So this is a not to exceed price. Yes, sir. Got it.

Thank you. This, this will be the last vote. This will be the last vote for this project and then it will be constructed. We're going to do that on the ninth. Yes, sir. That yes, that'd be the final vote to construct the fire station. And then we will have a grand opening or not a grand opening.

Uh, the, the, the groundbreaking schedule for August, if everything goes well, and then they're saying a completion date around may of 2027. Wow.

All right. Questions.

All right.

Thanks for the information. Appreciate it. New agenda item, uh, C. 6, 2607 classification of two new part-time positions for youth council and public art program managers and one position retitle for the economic development director, Justin.

Thank You madam mayor City Council previously approved funding for two volunteer positions with two new volunteer groups that were created the Youth Council which also includes the youth activities committee so that's two boards it's the high school board and then a parental board to oversee the Youth Council and then also the public art group to really start a heavy public art initiative in our city. Along with those approvals for the groups, funding was approved for these two part-time positions that will attend the meetings and really manage the functions of these groups, manage our public art program, staff myself and dr. tab research the market and we created job descriptions for both of these part-time positions the Youth Council position would be at salary grade 112 public art coordinator would be at grade 110 both positions will be part-time so there's no cost other than the actual salary paid to them hourly And then so beyond these two part time positions, to put them into the pay scale, we also recommending retitling of the economic development director position to destination and economic development, development director. I've talked with you all individually about this. The reason is, is after you know exploring the the idea of having a dedicated full-time economic development director we really have decided that those duties can be done in conjunction with an already existing uh position which is our our cvb and executive our executive cbb director tyler runyon so if this is created tonight starting Monday he will be reclassed into this title of destination economic development director and he will handle our tourism with the CVB and he will also be our point our point man for economic development in the city as well so I'm excited for the opportunity for him I think he's going to do a great job and I think it also for our operations, I think it makes sense and it also saves us money. So that's a good thing too. Um, if you have any questions, I am available. I'm right here.

Council questions.

Nope. Wonderful. all right do you need a motion on this yes i'll read the motion okay go ahead approve the classification of two new part-time positions and retitle uh retitle the economic development director to the destination and economic development director as presented so moved second i have a motion in a second all in favor say aye aye all opposed motion carries thank you and congratulations

Public hearings, a 6-2608 text amendment to the sign ordinance, specifically chapter 66 to allow halo lit, reversed backlit wall signs, Shayla Reed.

I'll read the protocol. When the public hearing is open, members of the 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 council may then 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.

shayla thank you thank you can you hear me awesome okay thank you so the item before you tonight is a text amendment as mentioned there is a sign requirement request that we have for halo backlit lights as a wall sign and so you may recall that this was initiated in your february 27th meeting it was sent over to the planning commission on april 27th the item was deferred until june 8th where the recommendation will be coming to you tonight And tonight we're having a discussion regarding what would be next for that item. So as you're seeing here, this is just an example of what the halo backlit lights appear to be. I will share that in Chapter 66, it establishes the rules for signage and interior illuminated signs are in fact prohibited within our codes. So staff has identified that in conversations with applicants, there is a master program that some businesses have that allows for the master sign programming to have different signage than some other businesses may have. and so just to give you a little example of that we have a master sign program that if you have multiple occupancy down development for shopping or industrial you're able to have a list of signage that the city has agreed to allow those business are as before you hear and if a business falls within that category if they have halo backlit lights they have been allowed so with that being said we have examples of halo backlit in the city So we've taken the opportunity to go out and have conversations with businesses to see more detail regarding the designs that were used in designing those particular signs. And from there, we started a conversation on if we were to amend our codes, what would that be? That would be a definition revision where halo lit, reverse channel backlit wall signs are created here with a sample language in red. And then instead of allowing internally illuminated signage to be completely prohibited, we added language or suggesting language to allow for the halo backlit signage to be allowed as an internally illuminated sign. And then furthering your sign code for retail, commercial office and industrial, there is a wall sign provision there. So we thought to add information to what extent there was a lot of conversation in the Planning Commission to what to what temperature or color with the lights be. And so staff went back and did research. Again, we went out and researched and had conversations with existing businesses in the city. and found a particular business that had a I guess a aesthetically pleasing sign and we reached out to that company and found out what lumens or kelvins that particular sign had and we found that to be what we would suggest to be the max and did further research and had other conversations just to ensure that it wasn't too bright or too light so with that that would be the suggestive language that staff would have for you today for the temperature and color with that being said that concludes my report

Thank you. And with that, this is a public hearing. I hereby open the public hearing. Is there anyone 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. Council?

Sheila, I have a question. Yes, ma'am. Where it says that the wall signs may be flat against the wall or pinned away from the wall, but in no case project more than 15 inches from the wall surface. Is that like a predetermined size depth for existing signage that we already have that's attached to the wall? Or is there some other reason for that measurement?

It's just, well, one that's a pre-existing language, and that's just identifying how far out your signage could go, giving it a max, because sometimes you could probably project a little too far. So what they're doing is giving no more than 15. All right. Yes, ma'am.

Any other questions?

i have a question um maybe you had those pictures in the beginning with those pictures of what we're talking about the type of those two type of uh backlit that that's what you're writing into this yes sir that's pretty common today's today's commercial world we would just was it that we were just a little bit out of touch on what was needed

Our sign ordinance didn't keep up with technology. OK, fair enough. I referenced that at the meeting back in February. we had somebody come in apply for the sign and shale and i had a great debate of how a wasn't permitted and b it looked very good so the question became why aren't we yeah permitting this and then we realized that we just need to update it to allow this because we agree the appearance of these signs has come a long way from the old internally illuminated signs the kind of the neon type sign there are already there are already hundreds of them in the city right as well okay

so now it's all legal and that's going to be one of the choices they'll have when they put a sign up it's also going to allow these signs in areas that don't have a master sign program adopted all right good that's the biggest um loophole that we're closing all right any other questions anybody else yeah i have a question okay i i am not a light expert here but we have two pictures and one looks warmer and one looks cooler are both of the ones that we're seeing here under our ordinance are both of these allowed or is one allowed one not What is the look here that we?

So those aren't the examples that the lumens would match. I will say that the lumens that we are looking at, if you've had a chance to see Chick-fil-A, those are the numbers that we're using to match their signage. And they have a very calming color that's not too bright. It's not projecting outward, so it has a very soft look to it. So if you've had a chance to see them in the night, you'll see that.

Okay, and so then the coffee shop here, so you're saying Chick-fil-A would be approved, the coffee shop one, would this also be approved?

So these are just examples of what a halo backlit is. It's not to the temperature.

Okay, so this isn't talking about the actual color portion of the ordinance.

Correct. It's just giving you illustrations.

But there is a color portion of the ordinance.

Yes. So here, as shown here. That's one. It will give you that for the Kelvin no more than 6500 and then 9112 for the lumens.

That pertains to color.

Yeah, that's the brightness. So that's the brightness and the temperature.

It seems like the lower the Kelvin, the warmer the temperature. Is that correct? Correct.

So again, it doesn't change the color. If someone wants red, they can go with red.

So the colors are going to be like a, it's like a warm kind of bluish, not necessarily blue, the way they kind of weren't lighting. They use this word blue to give like a warm tint to it, but it won't be a red. It's not a color like that.

It's on page 47 in your packet. I gave examples in the text.

47.

Yeah.

The planning commission, uh, they had the question on that. And that's what actually initiated this was there are existing businesses that do have colors. And I think they will be grandfathered in. But I think moving forward, the idea was not to allow colors, but just Kelvin and lumens of white.

Okay, well, that answers my next question, because I was curious, you know, if we're talking about color temperatures and things like that, how many

businesses are now gonna have to go and change their lights but we're grandfathering in any existing and yeah that's the way most ordinances work is when we change them if they already exist we're not gonna make people change them right then but whenever if they close and a new business comes in the color back up if I might also add there's a sign program that may allow for the colors to have different

you know, variations within that sign program. So I need to remind that because that is something that we will need to discuss because whatever changes we're making across the sign ordinance would not apply to those that have signed programs, which, which is the commercial area she listed.

They have their own sign programs that were approved previously, which may include color. Okay.

So it's just, let me just clarify. If you look in your agenda package, I think it's page 47 all three of those colors are allowed so the warm white white and cool white yes it can exceed the cool white which is 6,500 Kelvin's the way the proposed ordinance would read if it's approved so that's 6,500

that's the maximum you would get under what the draft that's in front of you okay all right you go I think I don't have any other questions and any other questions all right I need a motion to approve this the text amendment to the sign ordinance as presented madam mayor I'll make a motion to approve

0 6 2 6 0 6 text amendment 0 8 0 8 text amendment to the sign ordinance specifically chapter 66 to allow halo lit walls signs.

I'll second. I have a motion in a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed. Motion carries. Thank you.

uh public hearing b 620 609 variance request from stream setback and buffer 435 c biscuit walk shayla reed yes ma'am um so this property is on lur21 it's located in the most um rarest boundary of our our city boundaries as you can see here this particular development is asking to have a home that would be possibly encroaching into well definitely encroaching into the city's setbacks or buffers. So that red line that you're seeing here if I could kind of point that is a state buffer here. The development will not be within the state buffer but it will be if the home is constructed as shown here within the first 50 feet here from this creek will be 50 feet of city buffer and then here an impervious cover of additional 25. So if the home was to be constructed or allowed to construct, it would encroach into this 25 feet here and then this 50 feet here. And just to kind of give you an idea of what was before, previous and previous conversations back in 2024, the developer showed that he would have the structure outside of those buffers. He is asking today in 2026 to have the photo on the right be permitted to allow for the structure to encroach into those buffers. You have, um, identified in the packet, the application as well as what is identified for their side to have hardship. So you have that information before you. And that concludes my report here. Thank you.

Is the homeowner here? And if so, would you like to share any comments about this application? Yes.

Mayor, council, my name is Stephen Jones of the law firm McKagan and Jones. I'm here today on behalf of Jeff Lindsay Communities. Red Rind Development is the actual applicant, but that's a subsidiary of the company or an affiliate of the company. Accompanied today by Mr. Matt Gray of Moore Bass Engineering. We've got a PowerPoint. This request is a request was related to the impervious setback and uh the underserved buffer associated with this lot when this property was developed mr gray can give you specific details on the engineering you'll see on the right hand side and i've got some more detailed slides i can show you in the powerpoint we did we had mitigation credits to build a road over an existing stream that's of course exempt And then we pushed that stream further south. We had plans to construct a home, as staff said, outside of the impervious setback and the undisturbed buffer. However, purchasers came along that loved this lot and loved a home plan and wanted a plan on this lot. And they're here today and they'll speak shortly in the in favor portion of public comment. But to make that fit, we really had two options here. One is to reduce these impervious buffer and setback. Two would be more environmentally intrusive, and I can show you on a more detailed slide, but we would actually have to go into that buffer further with additional mitigation credits, cut that stream further down impact those wetlands that are further south, which would be more environmentally intrusive than what we've already done. In that slide deck, if we're... Yeah, I apologize.

Unfortunately, due to security issues, we do not allow external devices to be connected to our system.

Okay, then. Well, I did have a slide, Mayor and Council, that showed that when we went and we disturbed this lot, we disturbed pursuant to our LDP plan, which was approved and authorized by the city. to disturb that entire area that's within that buffer, our limits of disturbance were in that area. So, uh, that was right. All pursuant to an approved LDP, but the way that stream sits, because we didn't want to mitigate it further down and we didn't want to intrude onto it further into that wetland. Uh, we left it where it is. We only cut the stream back and piped it to the extent necessary to put that road in. What the result is, is that where that stream now sits puts that setback and that impervious buffer into that lot. And so for the purchasers and the home buyers that love the lot and love the plan, to get that house to fit on that lot, we do need this variance. Without the variance, the alternative, as I said, we would have to further intrude and further bring that stream south impact it further which which is a possibility but this is the least environmentally intrusive mechanism to do that as opposed to again further impacting that wetland and further impacting that stream so it's really kind of a trade-off right it's a regulatory fix verse a land development fix Matt, if you want to come up and tell me if I butchered that explanation of the engineering or not, please do.

Matt Gray, I'm with more vast consulting. I'm an engineer on just talking about this on the dash solid line that you see the red buffers starting from on there have been already disturbed areas during the construction of the subdivision. If you go out there, the full proposed site out there, So this line right here, that has already been disturbed and been constructed as part of the subdivision's overall development. That was permitted. We did mitigation credits. It's a lengthy extensive process through the Army Corps of Engineers. We limited our disturbance to right there because that's the max disturbance we thought we needed at the time. You go out there today, it's a full pad out there. It is ready for a house of this size to be constructed without any additional grading operations or anything in the buffers. It's really a difference of what is legally applicable for buffers. Once we're done with construction, the state says those buffers apply. The roadway right here is in the city's buffer. Those are exempt per state rules for construction activities, but this lot right here is not exempt. We realized that really after the fact. It's a very technical process. I did not do the permitting for the mitigation credits. That was done by Laura Benz, who does environmental permitting for developments like this. So in my mind, it's just a difference of we've already done the work, the disturbances there. It's not an undisturbed stream buffer in this area. Right here, down here is an undisturbed stream buffer with natural vegetation, but this is just three to one graded slopes per the erosion control plan of Mill Farms subdivision. So that's just some of the background on it. Explain the alternative. Oh, yeah, so the alternative that if we didn't have to go through this variance process during the subdivision construction would have been coming down here, disturbing this much more wetlands, paying for that mitigation, paying for a stream buffer. And then that buffer would start at this point and be outside the lot. The way we drew it up was the least environmentally impactive design at the time. And that's why we're coming before you tonight asking for a variance from that buffer. yeah well yeah legally speaking we would have to do another set of plans if we wanted to move the buffer outside and avoid this variance process we could go back and do that it would require another army corps permitting wetland mitigation all that and going through the city for approved construction plans for it on We'd prefer not to have to do that, being that this first development was done with the intent. And this lot right here is pad graded. It's ready for a house of this size. Again, these are the limits of disturbance that have already occurred for this development.

Matt, I just. Mayor, council, I just want to clarify this to Matt. What you're saying is that if you went back and redid land disturbance to push that buffer further back, that would cause, you would have to do land disturbance within the wetlands and within the existing buffers, but it could be pushed back.

That is correct. Yeah. Just as we did for the initial set of construction plans. Thank you, mayor. Thank you, council.

If you have any questions, be happy to answer those at this time.

Yeah. Don't go too far. Uh, thank you. And did you say that the, uh, applicant, the homeowner is here?

the and would like to share a comment that's correct mayor they are the folks that want to buy this lot and construct this home on this block okay um i would like to hear from them at this time

Thank you.

Good evening Mayor. Good evening council.

When we come a little closer to the microphone.

Sorry. Can you hear better.

Yes.

So my name is Vishali Patel and we've lived in Fayette County for 19 years now. We were out looking for a new house. We came across this new subdivision being built which is very like literally across the street from the school for our kids. And this lot with the layout literally like we fall in love with it and after all of that is like Okay, you have to go through this process which I mean obviously you guys and they would understand better. Our appeal to you guys tonight is if y'all can. get this approved for us to have our new house built. That would be amazing. This is going to be our last like forever dream house and hopefully we can get it done. Thank you. Thank you.

With that, I will open the public hearing. Is there anyone 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. Council. Questions?

Mr. Jones, I don't know whether I need you to step up or the engineer or both. I don't know. yes councilwoman brown okay on july 13th of 2023 when the hearing to rezone the subdivision from r12 to lur to reduce the setbacks for every law a list of recommended conditions was presented by the director of planning and development at that time perhaps the most important condition recommended was and i quote The location of all flood plains, wetlands, and associated buffers shall be field located and surveyed. None of these areas shall be located within the buildable envelope of a lot." The word shall, of course, is legally binding. And this condition was not removed or amended during that hearing. So my question for you is, have you complied with this condition?

Yes. Councilman that's correct. And that condition is exactly as you read it. These are stream buffers and setbacks. The condition you referenced is with respect to flood. So this is a in wetlands. And so this is a different type of buffer and setback as opposed to those reference in the condition.

Say that, say that one more time, make that distinction again, please.

These are stream buffers and setbacks. That condition references flood in wetlands setbacks. The re the resulting stream buffers and setbacks from this lot are a result of the construction plans that more bass prepared. Mr. Gray's firm that attempted in Matt, if I say this wrong, please correct me to limit how far back we pushed that Creek to be as least environmentally intrusive as possible. It could, that creek could have been piped back further. They would have pushed those setbacks and buffers further. I think that still is a possibility, but the requested variance here is to avoid the intrusion into those environmentally sensitive areas that would require to push the creek further back. Did I say that well enough? That's correct. Okay. So it's, we're asking for the regulatory variance so that to avoid the environmental impact that would be required to physically push that Creek further South.

And, and by what, is it okay if I jump in? Um, and by what authority does that stream get relocated or pushed back or paved over?

so i think that becomes a yeah matt i'll have to jump in i think that becomes a core permit it's a land disturbance then you pipe that creek further south which they could have done in the beginning but i think and correct me if i'm wrong here the intent was to pipe it as little as possible then after post development when those streams were field located that buffer and setbacks were drawn around it is that yes that's correct we we did minimal disturbance as possible

to allow for this development on this issue really came up at final plat where the buffers the city engineer at the time came back and said the buffers still apply on it was our understanding that if you can go in and grade and disturb and put silt fence to your pad grading that the lot would be allowed but it was really at final plat all these items came up for the unexpected buffer still being applicable to something that's already been disturbed. I've always dealt with stream buffers in being a natural state. This development with the disturbance is no longer in a natural state, in my opinion.

I think that's a very poignant point. the lot was graded, had graded during the land disturbance permit process. So you've got the 50 foot undisturbed vegetative buffer that you could see there. There was actually disturbed and then in final plat, they relocated that stream and then a buffer went back on top of a lot that was already disturbed legally. So it's kind of this after the fact, regulatory stream buffer that's imposed upon a lot that was legally developed and so the options here are to physically push that stream further back or the requested variance here is that fair yeah you said that did you did did i hear you say the slab is poured the lot is slab graded. So it is ready for the limits of disturbance are basically that dotted line that you can see.

If you've been out there on houses that are being constructed, but all the unconstructed houses are out there are what we call pad graded. They are ready for a house to be built with essentially the builder coming in with his material. not needing to bring heavy equipment or anything like that. You wouldn't be able to identify anything different about this lot than all the other lot sizes out there.

So go ahead. The, the, I need to go back to the mitigation credits. Those were issued by the city or by army Corps of engineers.

That's through our army Corps of engineer approved by environmental protection division. There's a whole list of, uh, a math equation for how much disturbance you do, and that equates to a certain amount of mitigation credits. The ones for this one were purchased in the Flint River Mitigation Bank. It gets a little outside my technical area of expertise with all that, but you purchase credits and they're protected somewhere else in the state. to compensate for the impact you're doing to the stream of blood so so by that is it not a city decision that was not a city approval at all correct on it it comes from the state I believe there's city requirements that you know overview that for final permitting we had to provide documentation that that was all completed but that's through the state and Army Corps of Engineers

Can I ask a question?

Please, yes. The land disturbance permit was through the city, right? Yes. To get the LDP, Mr. Grangeford has to show that mitigation credits were purchased through the state and approved. Yes. To Matt's point, if you go out there right now, the entire lot is graded with seal defense running right here pursuant to that LDP. But then after development, when you... apply those buffers on top of that stream which was as impacted as minimally as possible that's when that envelope of the setbacks and buffer subsumed this plan or the area of the lot where this plan would set

Okay. Did you have a question?

Yeah, I have a question. I've got a lot more comments coming, but got a question right now. The water that's been moved and piped underground comes out. Do you know where the downstream water goes from this lot?

i can see the stream coming out here but it doesn't say where it goes it goes into this retention or retention pond or detention pond i'm not sure which one it is where does it go from there uh so the stream buffer right there is not piped it all of our detention is done through the road i understand it's piped under the road yes i understand that yes and it goes into that uh uh detention basin and then into the lake on and where does it go from the lake Uh, it goes further downstream. I don't know off the top of my head, what going to maybe. Possibly line Creek or the Flint river. Eventually it does. It's probably an unnamed trip.

You've done all of your work necessary for downstream issues of water drawing off that river. You have seven and a half miles. I believe you cannot send things down there that could affect the water that's being drawn off for drinking water.

yes that was all done in the approved hydrology plan i didn't see it in the i didn't see it in the paperwork that we would think but do you have paperwork to back that up yes that was done for the overall subdivision development there's a hydrology study that includes that downstream analysis you're talking about on and this lot six was included as a fully developed lot part of that hydrology study i'll say the rest of my comments later okay does anybody else have a question or a comment at this time

Not for them at this point.

I'm still in a listening capacity.

Yes, yes. I will say, to say that I'm not prepared to approve this would be an understatement. However, I'm concerned about the claim that without this, they would have to move the stream and further the negative environmental impact. The last thing any of the five of us want to do is to exacerbate what looks to me to be a difficult situation. Do we need to learn more before we can make a determination? I'm not prepared to approve this, certainly, and clearly a complex situation. We are sensitive to the environmental impacts here and might need to learn more before we can make a decision.

I have to agree with the mayor on this that I like the statement, leave my wetlands and leave my undisturbed buffers alone because those are in the environmental protection downstream. So any kind of sensitive areas for intrusive insensitive areas, I'm certainly not in favor of that.

Do you have anything to add to that?

Well, I'm kind of interested in, Mr. Meagher's opinion on any of this? Well, with regard to the fact that I'm still of the mindset that the original intention of what was put in the conditions indicates, in my opinion, that this lot should not have had any construction of any house in this zone, the undisturbed areas, because the condition was basically that none of these areas shall be located within the buildable envelope of a lot. So we've got a lot of undisturbed and all those other areas that's in the buildable area of this lot, which in my interpretation of that is The house should not be put where these undisturbed or other buffer areas are.

Read the condition again for me, if you would.

It was said the location of all floodplains, wetlands, and associated buffers shall be field located and surveyed. None of these areas shall be located within the buildable envelope of a lot.

The associated buffers language I think speaks to buffers beyond the wetlands. Obviously the wetlands are a federal jurisdiction more than a city one, but I think the language associated buffers is why we're here tonight.

But this is stream buffer.

Yeah, that's an associated buffer.

Ah. So the fact that the stream buffer line, which the 50 foot undisturbed natural vegetative buffer which is they're asking for a variance request on that. And then the green zone area, which is the other area that they're asking for. And that one is defined as the additional 25 foot impervious on the wrong part of my page here. It's okay. impervious cover setback, no structures or pavement variances requested. So we have a significant portion of this lot that was classified as we can't have a structure here. I'm kind of curious why this lot wasn't redesigned right from the get go in the beginning to break it up or combine it with another lot or divide it in half or just deed it to the HOA. because this lot has all of these issues.

From a technical perspective, it was discovered at Final Platte, we made our first submittal, and we thought with the mitigation credits that were provided and were completed through Army Corps of Engineers, is that the buffers were not applicable anymore, similar to right above it with the roadway system, the roadway construction. We thought it was an allowable, allowable impact. And it was determined at that time started this process that buffer still apply, even though a full construction project went through on to the point of impact where the limits of disturbance are located.

I don't agree with that.

I think what's really changed and Sheila reference this she can pull the slide up is i think there was a discussion about the buildable lot and what could be put there back when they were going through the approval phase and there was a concept of a smaller house plan 1200 square feet and i think that's where it's not the 1200 it was discussed at the time it's not consistent with what's down there and it's obviously not the house that the proper that the Contract purchasers are looking to build and that's why we're here. But I think some of this was taken into account in the plan approval process.

I don't see how, if all these items came up at final plat and that's when we all discovered that the buffers still apply. That's that's why we're here. Right. because the buffers, the associated buffer still applies, which means.

Well, they do, but there was a house plan considered for this lot that would fit within the allowed buildable envelope.

Okay.

And that was a 1,200 square foot house. Smaller house.

And that would still be the case. It's the house on the left on that slide that's up there now. Yep, there you go. Which is on our screens.

That would be compliant. Yes. and trying to trying to do this you're actually intruding upon potentially the wetlands you're intrusive to an environmentally sensitive area I don't like the idea of going and into intruding into buffers I mean they're there for a reason why same as wetlands they're there for a reason why and there I think that know we in peachtree city we're going to be careful and be good stewards of the environment here we're trying to do that all over the city and this is certainly one that i know i was involved in personally when it came before council in 20 was it 2023 i think it came to when we were doing the zoning on that yes and i know that i was involved and i fought vigorously on this to do the right type of lot size so we would not have these type of issues come back and here i am three years later saying i told you so you don't make them like this and then we don't have to do variances so i'm even more and entrenched in not approving this at all uh did

Another comment I want to make is, as I'm looking at this picture of the potential smaller house, it looks like there's still some additional, you know, with a better or slightly different modified house design, that the house could actually be made larger and still not infringe into that green dotted space. So a larger house than what's pictured there would fit within the buildable area on the lot and still not go into the setbacks and qualify. So looking at it that, I can't read how many square feet it is. Is it 1,200 or no, it just says lot six. Whatever the square footage is of that house on the left, it could be modified to make it a little bit different, you know, larger. I'd go for that. I'm not in favor of the variance at this point.

I have a question. I think I'd best direct it to staff. The applicant has stated we would have to, if this were not granted, we would have to move the stream and further the negative environmental impact. My question is, what is that contingent upon and does the city have the authority to control that? In other words, is that another variance? Is that another Permit application. What is that?

So those are state.

Yeah. Yeah. We can't hear you. I can't hear you, Jonathan. They would go through the court in order to move the stream. Right. Right. But then it would come back to the planning commission for a replat of the property showing the changed location of where the streams and the applicable buffers would be.

And then council or no? No.

It goes to planning commission.

but after planning it still comes here because it's going to be a change no no no redoing the plat oh if they're going all the way back and they've got delegated to the planning commission under the city's current land development and and that has to all go through the army corps of engineers

They would start with the Corps of Engineers and then come back to the Planning Commission for a replant of this lot and the subdivision.

So you're telling me that City Council has no authority over that decision? That's exactly what it says. Correct. It would be up to the Army Corps of Engineers?

They would handle any wetlands and any change in the stream location and permitting that to happen or not. if they did permit it, then it would come back to the Planning Commission for a revised plant on this property.

This means that it's going to go down the road a substantial number of months. If you have to get something through the Army Corps of Engineers, I think anyone who's done work with them, it looks like you have, that could be another year before you get anything.

As far as the second part of the question, Kim, I don't... Maybe planning... planning would have the only authority can't hear you john planning i think the planning commission would have the ultimate authority of whether or not i'm going i was going in a different answer she had asked about the environmental impacts and i don't know that i know that answer that's something that would have to be the analysis of the army corps of engineers and deciding whether to permit it would probably involve another army corps permit possibly buying more mitigation credits to move that stream

and still require their approval and EPD as well.

We would have input into the Army Corps of Engineers as the city to that, or would that not be something that we would endeavor?

I don't think we have legal jurisdiction in that aspect.

They might ask us about it, but it's their call.

you know, piggyback on what the mayor said. We really have no dog in the fight here. If they want to go and follow all these things and get the Army Corps involved, they can just go ramshot over us. Is that what I'm hearing? Correct. Okay. Just wanted to make sure it was clear.

I'm certainly not in a position to approve this tonight. I think it's rather devastating.

You know, I go again back to something that I've stipulated quite a few times through the whole process. This is an issue and a flaw with the original design plan that put this law in this situation, in this jeopardy position, adjacent to this wetland stream, buffer, undisturbed whatever area. my opinion, totally my opinion, poorly designed. It should have been redesigned, redrawn, combined with the lot next to it or some other alternative to allow for a better size buildable area. There is a solution to this whole thing. No variance needs to be given. A house can be built on that lot within the buildable area as outlined by that second house and even a bigger house than what's outlined there. And since there is a solution in terms of building a house on that lot, I don't support the variance. All right, any other comments, Michael, Laura?

Yeah, I'm not a stream buffer expert here, but it seems like if there's a process that you can go through, I understand that this one's probably the easier way to go through, but if there is a path that is more correct than this, then I would feel more comfortable with that path being taken. So I am not inclined to approve this tonight.

I concur with my peers on council. I think we've had enough discussion on this question has been answered and also appreciate the foresight of my peers on council when this development was going underway. So at this time, I'm also not in position to approve this.

All right. Madam mayor, I'll make a motion that we deny the variance on 0 6 2 6

get my glasses on.

09, the request of the variance of the stream setback and buffer at 435 Seabiscuit Walk.

I second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor of the denial, say aye. Aye. All opposed? Denial carries, sorry.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council.

Council staff topics, anyone? I have one.

Yep.

On Monday evening at 5 p.m. in this room, we will begin our budget conversation. City Council will hear a presentation from our city manager and we'll be devising our budget for the coming fiscal year. Open to the public, come on, come off.

Allow me to add to the mayor that it's the most thrilling presentation you're gonna see throughout the entire year.

I agree.

According to Kelly Bush. It actually is.

It's very enlightening. It is, it's a great presentation.

Anybody else? Yes, Madam Mayor, I have one. It's been quite some time And I believe it is time to bring up the naming of the library again. The city has named many venues and buildings in this city. And I'm gonna go through a list of those. I want you to listen up closely to the names. the Fred Brown Amphitheater, the Ralph Jones Boat Dog, the Chip Conner Island, the William Davis BMX Field, the Jim Meade Field, the James F. Riley Field, the Luther Glass Park. How about the roads here being named Joel Cowans, Floyd Farr? What did you not hear? You didn't hear any female names. We have two of them.

We have two.

One we're sitting in right now, which is the Francis Meador Council Room, and we also have one of the fire stations, and please correct me, Chief, if I've said it wrong, Sally Satterstweis. close enough okay so we have two named at this point for females in our city and none of them well we got a police we've got a fire station and we've got a room i'd like to have us take note that we should name the the uh uh name the library after what i would say the woman who put that on the map And the woman's name was, let me get it right, her first name was Mary Jean Tortorello Allen. Everybody called her M.T. And she was the strong woman behind the library, took it literally from a small little shelf and took it to one of the best libraries in the state of Georgia. Top, top library. Now, so I'm suggesting that we put this on the city council agenda sometime in the near future. maybe August sometime, to bring it up and maybe take a look seriously. What do we need to do to name that library after M.T. Allen and honor her for her 40 years and she was the first female hired in the Peachtree City? Those are pretty important. important for the females in the audience. This is the person who carved and carved her way and broke the ceiling with all the guys. So I think it's an honor for me to do it. Uh, and what I'd like to do is have it put on an agenda item and I'd love to hear from the council if they concur that that's the right thing to do.

I love the idea.

Um, yeah, we discussed things earlier. I think I have a few questions, but they should be able to be panned out in the next few months. And hopefully we can have this done.

Okay. Sounds good to me. We've done several things already and I'm saying no. But I'm just one person.

all right i think we've i think we've got a consensus what do you need um the cost cost involved i think sometimes when we name things after individuals sometimes there's a donation from the family i'm not i haven't heard anything about that if that's something that would be considered here um yeah the financial impact of what the sign would cost that also goes into all of the printing, things like that. What would the, just the impact. And what that looks like. And how we pay for it, mainly. Nothing against the individual herself, by any means. Okay.

Is that good enough? You put it on sometime in August.

Is there anything, any other information?

M.T. Allen Memorial Library.

Beyond cost, is there any other information?

M.T. Allen Memorial Library. Memorial? Yeah. That's what I've got on my notes here. Just M.T.

Allen Library, right? M.T. Allen Memorial Library. Like if you have a building that, I mean, are we discussing this right now? Anyways, like if you, like a building's named after somebody, does it have the word memorial in there or is it usually like just like the M.T. Allen Library? This is the reason why we put it on a agenda. It's council staff, so let's have the staff.

I will say that will affect the cost.

definitely it's it's typical and traditional and public libraries that you call it a memorial library okay thank you that's why I know that's all I have madam mayor all right I just want to say I'm so happy to see this scout troop here thank you so much you guys are awesome

I know. Not everybody lasts a whole meeting, so this has been very impressive. Thank you.

Are they earning merit badges for this?

Citizenship in the community?

Yep. I'm an ex-Eagle Scout, so I know exactly what they're going through. Enjoy it, guys.

Jasmine has one. I just want to publicly announce that due to the 4th of July holiday, as well as summer vacation in July, we do not typically have a meeting on the first and third Thursday. Those meetings are canceled and a special called meeting is called usually during the second week. So just for everyone to be aware that the meeting on July 2nd and July 16th will be canceled and a special called meeting will be on July 9th to to cover the entire month of July.

All right.

Thank you. Do you also want to outline that the staff offices will be closed for June?

Yes. Yes. So tomorrow, um, all city offices will be closed for Juneteenth. Uh, key Petrie city beautiful, beautiful will be opened. Uh, but other than that, the other facilities will be closed.

All right. Thank you. Any other council staff, Mr.

Yes, my mayor. Thank you. Just wanted to follow up on the public comment we had on the North hill golf cart. path construction. I've certainly received a number of calls on this too. So I just want to acknowledge the concerns and that this was a 2017 SPLOST approved project and we discussed this to council a couple times a few months ago but certainly I think there was a comment earlier that there hadn't been a plan yet for landscape design but If I recall during our discussion months ago, there was a discussion that trees will be replanted. That is the intention of this. I understand that we have a healthy tree fund. Um, and you know, I'd be certainly open-minded to support utilizing that tapping into that. to fund even mature trees and get a good number of them as well so i guess my question is the process of that moving forward and also engagement with the residents in that area especially the folks that we heard from earlier today

yeah so I'm going to speak with both HOA presidents after this meeting we're going to talk tonight and then I also already have a meeting on the books for Monday I know with North Cove but I want to include North Hill in that meeting as well and it will be myself and Jonathan meeting with them yes the plan is No, I was on vacation last week, so I'm catching up on this since Monday, this thing. So I definitely, I want to meet with all the HOAs. I want the HOAs to bring anybody, beyond you as presidents, bring any other residents that want to come. for the Monday meeting and I'll make sure you get it but also want to talk to y'all tonight as well and everything that councilman Paula check just said is is accurate this was a 2017 spouse project which was voted on by the citizen so it means it has to be done but I do want to talk with you all about the green about planting restoration I want you all to be a part of that as you said like there is there's no official design of that yet but I want y'all to be a part of that I want us to plant things that you all would like in there and we you know Jonathan I've talked about it we want it to be as dense as it possibly can be and also Instead of just planting all saplings, it'll take forever to grow. There probably will be some sapling planting, but we also want to spend some money and put mature trees in there uh it won't be the same size trees that were that were there wet right away but they will be at least mature enough to be have some height on them and and possibly get taller faster than saplings and part of that also includes underbrush we want to plant shrubs we want to plant all that kind of stuff too so i want you all to be involved in that process and we'll talk about that next week and i also concerns i noted down the concerns that you both had tonight so i will talk with y'all when we meet about all those as well thank you justin so the one follow-up on that concerns includes the safety barrier as well yes you have that yeah i noted it like we're putting a curb there so the likelihood of of carts going across and from north cove is very like hopping a curb on a golf cart is mess it up so I'm not I'm not as concerned about that but I do I want to look at as far as the safety of a car potentially going off Parkway and going into the going into the path I will look at it Thank You Justin

I think to add on to that, Michael, I think the safety issue is probably going to be more prominent there at that location as opposed to on the other side of down by the lake where there's enough distance between the cart path and the roads that the lights, the oncoming lights, you can sometimes be there and they look like they're in your lane. where you're closer to the road where North Hill is, it may become a detriment to the drivers of either the cars or the carts. So I think looking into that a little bit more carefully might be appropriate. Sure.

Well, for example, I don't, you know, when we talk about that kind of stuff, I don't want to put something that would be ugly there or something like super tall, like, right. We got to think about that. I mean, you know, guardrails or whatever. But we have other areas of the city. I'm thinking like Robinson Road, we have paths that are right up against Robinson Road. However, I know every road's different, and I know that area, and that area does wind. So I understand. We will look into it. Thank you.

I have a question. there was also the discussion about making the left turn around the monument and i didn't quite follow everything that was said with regard to like like that a cart making a turn would pull out in front of a car coming down the i think it's i think it's visibility okay so i think well i think what you're talking about is possibly being able to hit a golf cart

yes I think what you're talking about is a possibility of you being able to turn in from the parkway and you don't want to hit somebody that is possibly coming from behind that column and you don't see them right okay but same kind of them not seeing someone the column okay yeah

The problem is what's gonna happen now is parks are gonna go in the middle and then they're gonna have to go around these columns to connect that up to the existing paths until the north and south is finally done. And that is a concern for North Hill. Maybe one day it goes away, I don't know. But where those columns are, without doing the north and south, you start it in the middle.

This is a joke. Don't take it seriously, but we could just remove the columns. I'm just like, if you, if you don't want to remove them, that's fine. Um, we'll I'm kidding. Her answer is not on record. I preface it as a joke. Um, we'll talk about it. Like we'll, I'll get with y'all about that. Cause I need to know, I need to more clarification on that as well.

All right. Any other topics? Do we have executive session?

Yes, we do. Uh, pending or threatened litigation of real estate.

I need a motion.

madam mayor I move that we move to executive session for pending or threatening litigation and real estate I'll second I have a motion in a second all in favor say aye aye we are