Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Meeting today is Tuesday, March 10, and I'm glad to be here with all of you. This time I'll call the meeting to order and invite Doctor. John Lee Peterson, Jr, who is the senior pastor from Chosen Generation Ministries to bring our invocation and pledge of allegiance.

Good morning everyone.

Good morning.

Let's bow our heads in prayer. Heavenly father in the name of Jesus we assemble in this place today. And, Lord, as we assemble this morning, we ask your divine wisdom, your direction. Lord, we ask your blessings upon our chairman, the commissioners, and constituents, and everyone that's gathered in this building to get to today. Lord, we ask your guidance. We ask your wisdom. And, even right now, we yield to you, Lord, as we know that you will give us the divine wisdom that we need. We ask these and all other blessings in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Let us stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Good to see you today. Alright. At this time, we have our our 2026 budget expenditure analysis.

Good morning, Madam Chair, Commissioner Vareem, Commissioner Smith.

Good morning.

We are presenting our budget to actual for January 2026, which is our first month of the fiscal year 2026. Not much to report, 91.67% is our idle remaining percentage. Anything above that is either white or green. And green is also have under expand January to January comparison up to last year. Blue has some concerns to it, but we have some comments to it what those concerns are.

Nothing to project right now because it's too early, but we are going to be bringing over December, which is the last month of the fiscal year 2025, in about a month or so to give us the what the ending results are. The only thing I would say on this one, cautionary, we are watching the fuel line closely because of the what's going on with oil prices right now. So nothing else to report on this. I'm here for questions, if anybody has any.

So

what are the blue lines? The blue line has that where the remaining percentage is less than the ideal percentage.

Right.

And some comments are there. Sometimes we make payments quarterly basis versus monthly basis. So those comments can define that.

Okay. So that's what I just wondered is what I can't read that.

Oh, I'm sorry.

So I can't see which categories are blue.

Oh, yes. Is I can explain further if you need me to. Okay. That's what it is.

That would be great.

K. Anything else?

Yeah. Can you read those line items?

I can. Yes. Yes. Yes.

Sure. Not all of them. Just the ones Sure. That are Sure. Sure. Blue. Yes.

I can.

Let me be clear.

So the first one is EMG, which has a 90 sorry. Yeah, first page. Bottom of it is the percentage remaining is 78.27, where the ideal is 91.67. So they have the the comment is they paid quarterly. So we paid January for the whole quarter. So that's the reason, that's what it is.

And that's for ESG? EMG. EMA. M and A. EMS. Okay. So remember that when we're in meetings we need to remember not to use acronyms so that it helps everybody understand. Okay. So that's our ambulance services.

Yes. Correct. Okay. And the next one over there with my screen. There we go. And it's the street lighting is the next one. An agency which is our five zero one c three agency that we fund them. And the other one is Parks and Recreation. Okay. The very bottom one is our economic development and e nine one one, the special revenue one. Okay. Hopefully, that makes sense.

It does. And next time, we'll make sure they're a little bit bigger and maybe get a couple copies printed for the public.

We'll try as hard to get this in a but I'd be happy to send further comments if we need to via email. Okay. Okay.

Thank

Thank you so much.

Thank you. And I'm looking forward to last year's report. Alright. At this time, we normally have special recognitions and yesterday when I got the news release from Cindy Ball at the school system about this week being the week to honor our Board of Education, I couldn't think of a better opportunity to acknowledge one of our key partners in the community that makes Rockdale work. So at this time, if I could have our board members that are present, we would love to acknowledge you and if you all want to come down to the podium and introduce yourselves and make any comments I'd be glad to read the news release when you get finished.

Absolutely good morning all I am Sandra Jackson Lett I am currently your board chair here in Rock County and I'm a great advocate for education I'm a product of Rockdale County Public Schools and I know I know great things come out of Rockdale County and as I always tell people come visit us tell our story don't listen to us what's on the street come to our school board meeting the second Thursday at six and the third Thursday at seven it may be an alteration when there's a holiday we'll adjust by one week but typically it's the second at six second Thursday at six and the third Thursday at seven so please come hear our story so you can share the true story out in the community thank you.

Thank you.

I'm Larry Cox and I also sit on the Rockdale School Board and I just want to you know echo a lot of what Sandra said I encourage people to come to our meetings the second Thursday and the third Thursday the second Thursday is at six third Thursday is at seven and I agree with her. Come here are the reports that we give, here are our young people when we acknowledge them and see the accomplishments they're doing and come and see what advances we're making in education in Rockdale County because we are further along than we were last year and we want you to come and see that so thank you.

Very good so while you're up here let me read this news release. So I will it's the week of March that we will be recognizing the school board members and proclaiming the Rockdale County School Board Appreciation Week. And this extends all the way through Georgia, and you can see the beautiful pictures of our school board members. And most notably is our newest appointment, Tanya Bloodworth, who has an extensive career in education right here in Rockdale County, and so we are excited that she runs out the board. And so this week long observance calls attention to the contributions of local boards of education.

During this week of appreciation, we take a moment to recognize and thank our board members for their dedicated service, says Superintendent Shirley Chesser. This board has consistently earned exemplary status, achieving the honor nine times, and continues to model strong effective governance with a focus on continuous improvement. Our board members are regularly engaged in school and district events throughout the year, in addition to the many hours they commit to their governance duties as board members. We appreciate their service and their unwavering commitment to our students, staff, and families. Board members are elected to the be the community's voice on education and represent a continuous commitment to local citizen control and decision making in education.

The men and women serving our school district are Sandra Jackson Ladd with seven years of service, Janie Jones, vice chair with three years of service, Tanya Bludworth, who just was appointed in this month, Pam Brown with nine years of service, Larry Cox with one year of service, Heather Duncan with nine years of service, and Akita Palmer with five years of service. As constitutional officers of Georgia, school board members are responsible for setting educational policies, employing school personnel, providing buildings and equipment, operating a transportation system, and dispersing school funds. As community leaders, school board members serve as advocates for the children in local public schools and must study, evaluate, and decide what actions are in the best interest of those students. The Georgia School Boards Association sponsors this celebration and I call on all parents and families in our community to elevate our school board members and teachers because they're always certainly a key part of the student success but we really appreciate your dedication and the work that the board is doing. So thank you and if we could get a picture together.

Alright. At this time, have public comment. Do we have any cards from members of the audience?

Oh, okay. It looks like miss Matt for has yours. If

you wanna hand

it to Yeah. We can just Thank you.

You can just stay right there.

You can attend the chair. Thank you. Thanks.

First of all, I'd like to say good morning to everybody. My name is Betty Maddox Battle. I am the founder of a homicide support group, Grieving relatives in every violent event, and that encompassed teen violence, gang violence, domestic violence, but most importantly, gun violence. And I've stood before you all for many, many, many years, you know asking for your support it was unfortunate that we live in as a society today where we've got to be prepared my mother used to say it's easier to be prepared than to get prepared And with what is going on in today's society, with our children in the schools, I see that the school board, some of the members were here, we've got to get out in the community and into our schools because school will be out pretty soon and we've got to have resources and provision in place for these young people They are some of them are out of control, but you cannot throw the baby out with the bathwater. So we need I'm asking your support to help us, grieving relatives, provide services for family who lost loved ones to the violence that's being perpetrated in today's society so I'm soliciting you all's help you all of some of you all are mothers grandmothers, aunties, cousins, you know, church members, community leaders.

So we as a mother, we need to pull collectively together and support our young people and the people that are grieving in the community and let me be clear you do not have to lose someone to violence to grieve people are losing their jobs our young men and women are going off to war well at least that's what they say you know war whatever they're being killed so people are grieving so we need support in our community so I'm asking right the accountant to support us in our efforts that being said on the March 22 there's a business here in Rockendale County Platinum Spar then we're doing in conjunction with them a wellness ambassador guide to host the balanced purpose leadership beauty and rest. We need something in place and we need it now. So I'm asking you all today to reach out. You can visit my web site at grievingrelatives.org. Again, that's grievingrelatives.org.

As always, thank you so much for your support. It's good to see you again chairwoman and conventioners thank you so much for allowing me to speak

and thank you for coming back every year in honor of your son it means a lot appreciate that to have that support and leadership

I received that thank you thank you all

right at this time we'll move to the approval of the agenda

I move to approve the agenda is published

Madam Chair I second the motion

I have a motion and a second all in favor say aye very good Next, we have the approval of the minutes for 03/03/2026.

Madam chair, I move to approve

the minutes as presented. I second the motion.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. The motion carries. We'll move to item seven, unfinished business. So item one thirty eight, a resolution of

the Board of Commissioners of Rockdale County, Georgia, acknowledging and authorizing the implementation of environmental health fees adopted by the Rockdale County Board of Health. I believe mister Joseph Sternberg is here this morning to speak to those fees.

I didn't know if y'all needed me to speak or not. So good morning, board members. Under Georgia state law, the board of commissioners has to approve environmental health fees, not clinical fees, just environmental health fees. We have requested and the board of health has approved a fee increase to cover the cost of the provision of services. Rockdale County does give us a supplement or a subsidy that, we primarily utilize to provide clinical services because clinical services, the clients that receive those usually cannot afford to pay those, those fees.

So they slide down, some slide down to zero and we have to cover those costs because we cannot turn them away. We have to provide those services. So what we are trying to do is get environmental health closer to being self sufficient so the cost of those services are borne by the businesses and not borne by the subsidy from Black Belt County or by the taxpayers. I know it's a a fairly significant increase from a percentage standpoint, but we've done time studies and it is to cover the cost. This will not get us to break even, but it will lessen the loss that environmental health is paying or absorbing.

This was done primarily because it started last year with Newton County. We had a meeting with the board of commissioners and they wanted us to reevaluate our fee schedule to do the same thing to shift the cost of the provision of services onto the businesses and off of the taxpayers. So we had an opportunity to look at all our fees across the entire district and try to bring things as close to identical as possible because it's the same staff doing the same work in just in three different communities. Any questions on that?

Well I would say that in order to gain efficiency and streamline in Rockdale County we too have been doing time studies, especially in our planning and development department and even in Rockdale Department of Transportation. So we understand. Can you tell people a little bit about what fees and why someone would even use environmental health here in Rockdale?

Okay. So environmental health is the regulatory arm of public health. So under law, we are required to inspect, permit, and regulate restaurants, hotels, motels, public swimming pools, body art, septic systems. Those can all, you know, there's fees associated with them because there's permits, licenses, and that kind of things, but environmental health also has to do complaint investigations. So anytime somebody's septic system leaks, we have to do those, investigations.

When someone reports a foodborne illness we do those investigations there's no way to charge fees for that because it would be kind of unfair to to charge a fee to a restaurant because someone said they got sick there when they didn't. So we have to kind of absorb those costs. Hoarding houses, if you ever seen the TV show Hoarders, we do those investigations usually in conjunction with animal control, police and fire but those are again things that are unfunded but need to be done to make the community a healthier place.

That answers my questions. I did not know about the hoarding so that's interesting.

We do

have if you would like, we've got a photo book we put together that y'all could have that shows the stuff that we've seen in restaurants and things in this community because everybody thinks that restaurants are perfectly operated. We have the opportunity to see behind the curtain and those things that we see we ensure they get corrected so when you go out and eat at a restaurant those violations have been corrected you can ensure it's a safe place but without us doing those inspections these things that we have in the pictures would be rampant throughout

the community. Understood and we appreciate that safeguard because I do know our restaurants in Rockdale are quite busy all the time. So having that assurance that it is well, you know, overseen is very, very good. And I I have lots of friends who look at those scores every time they come out.

So One of the other things if if I can add in that we've kind of implemented that has tried to help restaurants is we understand that we are a regulatory entity, but we want to be a partner with restaurants in the community. So a new initiative that we have implemented, what, six months ago, give or take, is a food safety educator that for new restaurants that open up we have this individual go down to these restaurants at no cost to do we'll call it a mock inspection from when they open to that first routine because that's usually when scores just kind of tank because new operators are just getting their feet wet with how running a restaurant works and the last thing we want is that first inspection they get you know get a 50 because it kills their reputation it does a lot of other things so we we do this kind of an unofficial inspection where we kind of do on-site training based on their processes and their menus and their operations so when they do that first inspection we're seeing scores up 20 points usually so they're getting b's or a's versus c's or use that first inspection and we don't charge them for that it's kind of built in our cost that we do.

I like that idea I used to have a restaurant myself and you're right it is a very difficult business But I think that the investment on the front end is probably yielding great results like you talked about, and that is an economic development factor for me Mhmm. To have restaurants that people can go to with confidence. So thank you for that effort.

And it's also it's kind of odd. It's also cheaper for the restaurants in the back end because anytime that we have to go back out, we have to charge. So if

we can keep those

scores high, it's less reinspections, less cost, and it's kind of better for them all the way around.

Okay. Very good. Well, thank you for your Do time you have any questions? No. Okay. Thank you. So

I move to approve the resolution as presented.

Ma'am, sure. I second that motion.

Alright. I have a motion and a second. All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Aye. The motion carries.

Okay. Item 163 is with Crown Castle for the water resources department for tower space lease agreement located at 2331 Highway 138, Conyers, Georgia 30013. This is change order number five to contract 2021Dash06. It's an intent to lease portion to T Mobile. The effective date is 03/05/2026.

And would you like me to keep reading? Please. Alright. Item 164 is with the Atlanta Regional Commission through the Parks and Recreation Department Senior Services Division for the transportation voucher grant for assistance to seniors aged 65 plus and persons with disabilities aged 18 to 64. This is federal grant funding of $17,007.94 with the local match of $4,251.99 for a total of $21,259.93. The term is 10/01/2025 through 09/30/2026. This is through the general fund and grant funded. This is a budgeted item.

So can I ask a question? I'd like to know exactly what kind of transportation services are available for our seniors and those with disabilities.

Specific to this one but in additional we have other services as well. So we do offer services not just for people with special needs but we also have veteran services. So people that are veterans that need transportation to and from doctor's appointments and even other types of I don't wanna call them activities but it could be at this grocery store, it could be big box stores. So we offered those for those types of transportation services for our seniors. There are some requirements for that one along with the veterans one. They have to go through certain I don't want to call it they have to qualify. There's certain parameters that they must meet before they can be accepted for those transportation services.

And how would somebody go about accessing them?

Yep. They can call the senior service center and they can get more information if I don't clarify everything. But we can also do a presentation on those things. But we do have for the ARC there's different ones that they have to contact the ARC. They go through the vetting process through the ARC and the ARC then refers them to the senior center because they're Rockdale County. Similar somewhat similar for the veterans one as well. But they have to go through it's not vetted from our department or from the senior services. It's vetted from the veteran services or the ARC themselves. And then they get told that they can come to Rockdale. And then but if they call the Rockdale County Senior Service Center, then they we we can tell them what that process is.

Give them the phone numbers and Okay. So they have more information.

Okay. Thank you, director Karn.

Thank you.

Alright. Item $1.65 is a requisition for the transportation department for Pro Fence. This is to repair and replace eight miles of fence along I 20. The amount is $78,800. This is to the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item one sixty six is a requisition to the transportation department for AECOM for the concept report and associated environmental and traffic work for Old Covington Road. The amount is $401,750. This is SPLAS funded and is a budgeted item.

And can we hear from director Kelly about that project?

So good morning, commissioner. Good morning, chair. Good morning. So this particular project would be from Sigmund to the county line on the West side this is Old Coveting Highway actually so this is a part of our initiative to get projects that are ready to go or shovel ready as they would say Similar to what we do with Curtis took us a long time to get that one done. We're doing the same thing with segment in phases three and four. This is another aspect of that of widening that that corridor for us. There's also an issue on the cap side to do something similar, but we're we're blending with them later. But we're looking to make sure we have the space. That that road would probably look at a three lane road. This is the environmental to match that.

The design part is relatively relatively complete, but we have to get those environmental studies and whatnot ready for that so the whole package is shovel ready. And we can go out and get grants and funds for that in the future.

And with the governor's dedication of additional transportation dollars in Georgia, I think it's really smart of us to be proactive and have these things ready to go. So

Shovelry drones. Yes.

Your hard work in that regard. Absolutely.

Thank you. Item one sixty seven is an appointment with the Rockdale County Board of Tax Assessors for Max well Terry. This is a reappointment. The term is 03/10/2026 through 03/09/2030. K. Item 168 is with DeKalb County, Georgia to rescind contract twenty nineteen dash forty four. The contract was approved on February 2639 for fire rescue. This is for mutual aid agreement at no cost with auto renewals unless terminated. Item 169 is with DeKalb County, Georgia for fire rescue for mutual and automatic aid for emergency assistance at no cost. This is for ten years with automatic annual renewals not to exceed fifty years.

Item one seventy is with Ward Jones for Parks and Recreation Department for tennis and pickleball pro. This is an 8515% split in share of the revenues and registration fees. This is for one year with option to renew two additional years. This is through the general fund. Item one seventy one is with Jason Lauritzen for the Parks and Recreation Department for Tennis Pro. This is a seventy thirty split in share of revenue and registration fees. This is for one year with option to renew two additional years. This is to the general fund.

Madam Clerk, if you'll hold for a minute. I just wanted to note for the record that both item one seventy and one seventy one are great opportunities for citizens in our community. We also invite people from outside of the county to participate in our tennis center, where they can have either pickleball or tennis lessons. We know with spring coming and even better weather than we're seeing right now, we're going to have an influx of people who want to learn how to play pickleball and, also tennis and sign up for the leagues and a variety of other ways to get involved, outdoors. So very excited about this.

The premise of this is that it allows the tennis instructors to develop their skill sets and certifications and earn more money at a higher level. So the benefit of the tennis center is that the county does have an investment through SPLOST dollars and funding mechanisms in the tennis center and as we strengthen the number of coaches there and opportunities to take lessons, it's going to help offset any cost at in expenses at the tennis center. So we're very excited about that and the future opportunities that director Hammer's also working on with her new pickleball court. So thank you.

Alright. Very exciting. Item one seventy two is with Peachtree Pest Control LLC through the general services department for pest control for all county buildings. This is change order number three to contract 2023Dash188. This is a 5% increase for 2026 pest control services of $1,253.40 per year, making the new cost to making the new cost of $2,193.45 per month for a yearly total of $26,321.40. This is for one year through various accounts and is a budgeted item. Okay. So we left off in item one sixty three.

I move to approve items one sixty three through one seventy two.

Ma'am chair, second that motion.

I have a motion and a second. Are there any questions? Alright all in favor say aye the motion carries at this time we'll move to board comments and so commissioner Smith

sure thank you ma'am good morning. I just want to remind everyone that we're having the KCRB, which is keep Canyonsh Rockdale beautiful. Council is sponsoring a shredding event on March 21, and that will be on Parker Road at Wheeler Park, the lawn at Wheeler Park, and that will be from nine to 1PM, weather permitting. And get there early because I know we had to turn turn away a lot of people because the truck had, you know, become full early because there was a lot of people that participated. We thank you.

We thank you for the volunteers that have signed up to help us with that. And also, we are launching our Adopt A Mile program. So, if you or your organization or a family wants to adopt a mile in Rockdale County to keep that mile clean of litter, let us know, sign up for that and you can have that mile for the year. Also, are partnering with the Parks and Recreations Department to provide educational opportunities during their summer concert series. So, on those Sundays, we will be there doing collaboration with them collaboration with them with education.

And if you know of anyone any area that's within the county that needs a little TLC and needs to let any attention please let us know just make sure that it is not private property and KCRB which is keep Connie's Rockdale Beautiful, will be on the case. Also, I want to let you know about my one of my initiatives is to support small businesses, and I do that through the Beyond the Chain series, and that can be found on channel twenty three and also YouTube and our social media pages. Not only that, but we also do Rockdale Rise, and that spotlights different small businesses with that within our county and what they offer. Beyond the chain is spots is spotlighting those businesses that he's talking about they're doing the right thing here in Rockdale County we actually to support them once you see them on Rockdale Rise once you know about it support and help that small business rise Those are my comments. Thank you.

So

one of my recent initiatives has been to assist the senior center in providing services for those with living with dementia and their caregivers. Last year, we started memory cafe. This Wednesday, That memory cafe will happen at 03:00 at JP Carr. It's it's really fun to go to because the participants, both the caregivers and those living with dementia are so happy especially those living with dementia. They love being out there.

They love the attention. They love the opportunity to do an activity to sit and visit and their caregivers have an opportunity to chat with each other and get some information also. So I just want you to be aware that that's happening and if you know of anybody who could use and and appreciate that kind of experience, it's the second Wednesday of every month at from three to five at JP Carr. So we have our the Arts Matter program coming up on March 24 at JP Carr. Commissioner Smith and I are sponsoring this.

And as we are working through the program, couldn't be more excited. We have people coming to from youth to adults to share their experiences in the arts, how it helps them economically, how it helps them with health wise. We have a number of speakers. We have a a keynote speaker coming from ARC. We have some comments coming from local artists.

So it will be it will be a broad experience where you can participate in a collaborative art project, be able to hear and see and experience some of the art produced by our residents in Rockdale County, and you will be able to get some solid information about how the arts matter in terms of economic development and how they matter in terms of health and healing. On that in that same vein, art has the power to tell stories, inspire change, and shape culture. And as I was doing a little research yesterday on how do you define art? It talks about being an emotional experience that where you participate or are in the midst of, and it prompts you to with creative ideas or something new. And so during Women's History Month, we are celebrating women whose voices and talents have done just that.

And today, I wanna highlight two women from Georgia who made have made lasting contributions to arts and culture. First is Alice Walker, who was born in Eatonton, Georgia. She's a Pulitzer Prize winning author, best known for her novel, The Color Purple. Her writing explores themes of identity, resilience, and the experiences of black women in the American South. Through her storytelling, Walker has inspired generations and helped bring important voices into American literature.

Second is Gladys Knight, who was raised in Atlanta and is known as the empress of soul. She's a legendary singer whose powerful voice helped shape r and b and soul music for decades. Her timeless songs have influenced artists and touched audiences around the world. I also want to mention that Gladys Knight is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. And as such, she has her own chorus of gospel singers who travel around The United States, and I believe they have gone to some other countries and and sing.

And she conducts all of that. And these are people who have, in previous years, not ever sung gospel music at all. They came to Atlanta, I don't know, about fifteen years ago. They perform in local churches. There is no charge.

If if she ever comes again and brings her gospel singers with her, I will let you know. But it it's a you know, it's really nice, especially when she comes into Georgia since she's a hometown person from that. So women like Alice Walker and Gladys Knight remind us that creativity, courage, and talent can leave a lasting impact on history and culture. Those are my comments.

Very good. Thank you. And I wanted to share that we recently went to the NACO conference, the National Association for County Officials, as well as training for the Atlanta, the Association of County Governments for Georgia. And I will say that the training was extremely good. I especially enjoyed the planning and development training and economic development training as well.

And there were some new things that I learned that other communities are doing that we will benefit from as we're working through our unified development ordinances. And so you can see some of our pictures there. We also were able to meet with our United States, senators, both, senator Warnock as well as senator Ossoff and representative David Scott. And so we wanted to personally thank them for the funding that we were able to receive at the federal level. So madam clerk, if you'll help me, I know we received $1,900,000 for a second a a second senior center site.

We also received funding for another veterans van for transportation for appointments.

And the piece to finish the Rockdale River Trail for $500,000.

Yes. So we definitely had a great time working with them as well as meeting other executives from, communities around the country and I felt like it was a very effective use of our time and then when we went to the ACCG conference it was just last Wednesday, this Wednesday? Last Wednesday, sorry, they

all run together. Lot happening right now.

Yes, that's right. But anyway I really felt like what I learned at the planning and development training will add more strength and support to some of the things we'd like to see in our community like accessory dwelling units for families. In addition, other ways that people regulate businesses in the community, especially, you know, in light of our experience with BioLab, maybe some of the other things that communities are doing. And so I was very impressed by the sustainability features that have been included in their UDO. I also wanted to mention that this Friday and right next door in the Rockdale Auditorium, we will be hosting the Department of Community Affairs who will be sharing a lot of great information at their 101 class.

And so that seminar I will actually have deputy director White if you don't mind mentioning a little bit about that on Friday. And are there tickets still left?

Barely. Barely.

So, we have the event is going to be tomorrow Friday from ten to noon next door in the auditorium. The Department of Community Affairs is going to be there. The topics are going to include everything from housing to housing vouchers and several other topics. We have the flyer on the Rockdale County Facebook page as well as on the Rockdale County website. Eventbrite is where you can register. The tickets cost nothing. We maxed it out at $250 last check we're at $246 so very few opportunities left to get a ticket but we should have a very big crowd and we're looking forward to welcoming them with open arms.

All

right. Well as we continue as a community to explore options for housing, I think I know both Commissioner Smith and I just went through the Atlanta Regional Commission training and some and we've attended housing symposiums and other things. I think that really has given us a wealth of knowledge as well as the work that we're doing on a land bank, the creation of that. So we've explored I feel like almost every option we know of to be better informed in our community to give people options moving forward. So anyway, we appreciate you setting a lot of that info that meeting up, and so there's a little bit more about the details of that.

This is not going to be the issuance of vouchers, though. I do I do wanna make sure people are

aware of that.

We're not

actually going to be physically issuing vouchers at this event.

So we

wanna set the record straight publicly on that.

Educating the public about what is out there for us as a community to consider.

Exactly. But, we do look forward to having everyone there. If you haven't gotten a ticket, definitely act fast.

Excellent. You. And can you give the site for people to come on?

DCA. I know you hate acronyms. But dca101.eventbright.com.

Okay. Very good.

Yes, ma'am.

Can you repeat that please? Oh, dca101.eventbright.com. And bright spelled b r I t e. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you, commissioners. Thank you.

I wanted to let people know that a meeting took place last month with Rockdale and Soil Conservation team and the Georgia Extension Service and other community members that are interested regarding Farmers Market. I'm very excited about this. This has been one of my goals is to get our Farmers Market back in action. And so tentatively, we have the hours of Sunday, from one to four and Wednesdays 03:30 to 06:30. And on Sundays, it would be held at 1400 Parker Road on the the right side, which is called the lawn, and so we should have plenty of and space available for vendors.

And then Wednesdays, at Pinelogue Park. So we will, try that opportunity as well, and that'll be Wednesdays, 03:30 to 06:30 at Pinelogue Park. And so we do have affordable booths that will be available and we have an upcoming meeting to solidify more details about the events. But if you know anybody that's a farmer in the community, we also will have booths for artisans and a variety of other things related to a farmer's market. Acoustic music is something we're looking at right now.

So if you know people that play acoustic music, love to sing, they also would be invited and applications will be available in the near future. Okay. And other than that, I just wanted to take a second to give a shout out to my church. I know a lot of churches do great work in the community. So if they ever wanna share information, I'll be glad to share that as well.

But last Friday night, we had the Tim Tebow Night to Shine, and that is like a high school dance for well, you can be sixth through twelfth grade. And so students were able to come and get the red carpet experience and have a beautiful event for the special needs community. And so it turned out very, very well. We had plenty of volunteers and a lot of attendees with big smiles on their face. So very excited that we have that in the community, which really is a nice collaborative to what we're doing through the Parks and Recreation Programs, Special Needs Division.

So thank you to the Parks and Rec and your entire team who works to make sure that we have a variety of options for healthy things to do in our community. And with that being said, I have no other comments. Madam Clark, is there a need for executive session today?

Yes, madam chair. For the purpose of discussing land acquisition, personnel, and pending and threatened litigation.

Okay. Thank you. Can I get a motion?

Oh, I'm sorry. A motion that we go into executive session. Okay.

And I second the motion.

Alright. I have a motion

in this interrupt, but we have to state for the purposes of

For the

purposes of threatening litigation pending litigation, personnel and acquisition

and threatened litigation

and threatening I Second

the motion

all right. I have a motion and a second all in favor say aye aye the motion carries, and the meeting is adjourned. Thank you for your attendance and engagement with your board.