Board of Commissioners - Regular Meeting

Good morning, and welcome to our board of commissioners meeting today, Tuesday, May 12 at 10AM, and I'll call this meeting to order. We are blessed to have our friend, doctor Darryl Hall, at the Way Community Church with us again today, and he'll be bringing a a prayer this morning and the pledge of allegiance.

Good morning, madam chair, commissioner Smith. Let's pray together. God of our weary years and god of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far on the way, thou who has by thy might, led us into the light. Keep us forever in the path we pray. We thank you for this day.

We thank you for our leaders. We pray wisdom for our board of commissioners. Thank you for the team that supports them, that undergirds them for the heavy lift, the heavy weight of administering and leading legislation in our county. I pray, Lord God, for the constituents. I pray for all the youth, all of the seniors.

I pray for all the business owners. I pray for all the residents of Rockdale County that they will find in this community safety and unity and belonging, and that together we can all live in harmony. I pray for the issues that are on the docket today that you will give guidance and peace to all. Thank you for your presence here among us. We acknowledge you and we honor you.

In Jesus name, amen. If you will please stand to your feet. 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.

Pastor Hall, I wanna take this opportunity to share, my gratefulness, to members of your church

Okay.

Who continue to shine bright in our community and are doing a lot of great volunteering and service work. So, I really appreciate what they do.

My delight. Thank you for sharing that with us. Appreciate it

very much.

Thank you.

Have a

good day.

Alright. At this time, we have a special recognition for the Great American Cleanup Proclamation. So if we could have the any members from the Keep Conyers Rockdale beautiful team come to the podium. Surely. Alright. Hi. Good morning. Good morning. Feel like I see everywhere. You're like a community ambassador at all things.

So we're proud of that work. Thank you for everything that you do. Okay. By the board of commissioners, we have a proclamation. Whereas the Great American Cleanup is the country's largest annual community improvement program, engaging millions of volunteers nationwide in activities that strengthen, beautify, and protect local communities.

And whereas, Rockdale County acknowledges the importance of maintaining clean public spaces, protecting natural resources, and encouraging sustainable practices. And whereas, Keep Conyers Rockdale Beautiful continues to demonstrate exemplary leadership through organized cleanup efforts, recycling programs, and community education that enhance the quality of life for all residents. And whereas participation in the Great American Cleanup aligns with Rockdale County's goal of environmental stewardship, civic engagement, and community pride. Therefore, we, the members of the Board of Commissioners of Rockdale County, hereby proclaim its recognition and support of the great American cleanup, and encourages all residents to contribute to the cleanliness and beautification of Rockdale County. In witness whereof, we here have here into set our hands and caused the official seal of Rockdale County to be affixed on this May 2026.

Signed, Janice Van S, chair, Tawanya Smith, commissioner post one, commissioner Doreen Williams, post two. Thank you. So,

we'll move up here.

Alright, at this time we will move to public comment and we have Michelle Bernard as our first speaker this morning. And if anyone else would like to speak, you're welcome to fill out the yellow form and let us know.

Good morning. Good morning. My name is Michelle Bernard and I would like this issue to be put on the record. On Friday, May on Thursday last week, May 7, my specific campaign signs was targeted and removed by a Rockdale County employee using a Rockdale County vehicle on county time. I have proof of this incident.

On Friday, May 8, I reported it to investigator Dwayne Turner of the Rockdale Sheriff Department. On Monday, yesterday, May 11, I followed up with mister Turner, and he advised me that there was nothing that could be done. I have been mishandled, mistreated during this election process. I am formally asking you to request a GBI investigation pertaining to this issue, and I would like to also meet with you privately to discuss this issue. Thank you.

I'd be happy to meet with you. And do you know if the signs were in the right of way?

They were not.

Okay. Alright. I'll check into that. Thank you for

letting me know.

All right, at this time we'll move to approval of the agenda. And I'd like to move to approve the agenda as published.

Madam Chair, I second the motion.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. And item six, I'd like to move to approve the minutes as presented.

Yes, ma'am. I second the motion.

All right. I have a motion and a second. All in favor say don't have any unfinished business. So we'll now move to item number eight, new business.

Alright. Item two fifty is with Stephanie Graves through Superior Court one for case manager for the adult drug court. It's in an amount not to exceed $55,000. The term is 12/31/2026 with option to renew three twelve month periods. It's renewable each year. This is grant funded and is a budgeted item and is submitted for ratification. I'll keep going.

Can I ask a question about that? With that contract, is that the annual amount or a prorated amount?

So it says the amount is $55,000 not to exceed for the year.

It's an annual amount. Yeah.

Okay. I guess the way it's written in applies maybe that it's from now until the end of the year.

Austin, did you wanna

Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning.

So it is annual. It is 33 or $33.50 per hour, but it won't exceed the 55,000 annually.

It will?

It will not exceed. Okay.

Alright. That'll be great. Thank you for that clarification.

Thank you.

Would you like me to keep going? Yes. Alright. So item two fifty one is with creating hope and needed care for everyone, chance. This is to the juvenile court for treatment services for juvenile drug court accountability court participants. It's various program fees for services. It's 04/01/2026 through 06/30/2026. This is grant funded, is a budgeted item, and is submitted for ratification. Item two fifty two is with creating hope and needed care for everyone, chance program through juvenile court for treatment services for juvenile resource court accountability court participants. This is for various program fees and services, 04/01/2026 through 06/30/2026.

This is grant funded, a budgeted item, and is submitted for ratification. Item two fifty three is with Travis Thomas to the Parks and Recreation Department for boxing and fitness classes at Johnson Park, The Lawn At Wheeler Park, and other park locations. It's a seventy thirty split with an estimated amount of $12,000. This is through 12/31/2026 with option to renew two twelve month periods renewable each year. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item.

Okay. Can you hold for a minute, please? Director Carney. Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning. Morning. Hey.

Can you clarify for me, is $12,000 the total amount or that's the revenue that would be expected?

That would be the revenue would

be expected. Okay. Yep. And how long has he been doing that program? Is it brand new?

Brand new. It'll be a new program. We actually have another instructor with him as well. So there'll be multiple classes not just him teaching. So there'll be other classes that they pair together or they're single doing various classes of boxing. Is registration already started? Yes. It has. We have a free class with the the so last meeting we we approved a contract for a girl named Tiara. So she's gonna instruct a free class to kind of get the introduction and he'll be there as well, but we needed to get him a contract. So then it'll be throughout the different various locations as we said, different programs to offer.

That is great. Commissioner Smith, we should do that. We are.

Yeah. Skateboarding and boxing. Right? Okay. I don't know.

We're diversifying. I

will have your insurance card in my pocket. Okay. So item two fifty four is with Play It Safe Playground Inspections LLC through the Parks and Recreation Department for to perform playground safety inspections of all 18 Rockdale County Parks And Recreation Department playgrounds. The amount is $6,365. This is for one time through the general fund and is a budgeted item.

Item two fifty five is at the Rockdale County Sheriff's Office, the city of Conyers Police Department, and the Rockdale County Emergency Management Agency through the sheriff's office for interagency communication sharing agreement for Tango Tango. This is at no cost and is effective until canceled. Item two fifty six is a requisition to the general services department for Laz and Associates to remodel restrooms at 2570 Old Covington Highway, the code enforcement division. Amount is $42,481.95. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item.

So I had a question on that. Is that Shady Grove Park? No.

It's the code enforcement office at the Okay. RDOT department.

Okay. Mhmm. Office of guns.

Okay. Item 257 is a requisition through the general services department for Southeastern Security Professionals for the installation of new fire alarm at 2570 Old Covington Highway to include the transportation, fleet, code enforcement, evening reporting center as well. The amount is $69,013.56. This is through the capital improvement project fund and is a budgeted item. Item 258 is a requisition to the general services department for Reynolds Warren Equipment.

This is for one Lee Boy track wagon for transportation department. The amount is $36,376.20. This is through the capital improvement project fund and is a budgeted item. Item two fifty nine is a requisition to the general services department for advanced material handling. This is for one Hyundai mow model model 30 d nine forklift for fleet services.

The amount is $52,076. This is through the capital improvement project fund and is a budgeted item. Item two sixty is with technology services department for Insight Public Sector for Barracuda email protection and backup renewal. The amount is $30,816. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item.

Item two sixty one is a requisition through fire rescue for North America Equipment, NAFCO, for the thermal imaging cameras and accessories to increase firefighter safety and victim rescue capabilities. The amount is a $137,682. This is through the capital improvement project fund and is a budgeted item. Excuse me.

Yes. Chief, if you could come and tell us a little bit about those thermal imaging cameras.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Commissioner. Chair.

So thermal imaging cameras, if if you've ever seen Chicago Fire or Backdraft or any of the movies or shows, and they go and they take you inside and and you're you're following around with whoever, and you can see everything in there and all you see is fire. That's nothing like inside of a fire. I hate to bust anybody anybody's. Is pitch black. It's as black as you could imagine. So we our first priority on scenes when we get there is to of course, our we have to make sure we're safe. So we wanna make sure everyone can see as they go along. And then we also that's how we search for victims inside of fires. We we use thermal imaging cameras. Traditionally, up until this point, only the officer, the one person on the truck has a thermal imaging camera.

So if someone gets disoriented inside of the fire or they you have three other people or two other people depending on how many is on the truck. Those people cannot they can't effectively search. Now with with this purchase, we'll be able every single firefighter on duty will have a camera. They're not don't take them home or anything. They're shared.

So one will hand it off to the next shift and and whatnot. But now everyone will be able to search for victims. If one person gets disoriented, they'll be able to get out of the structure, be able to find windows, doors, ways to get out. And if you think about big box stores, even that those fill with even though it's white smoke, you still can't see through it. They can if they get disoriented and you can imagine if you can't see if all the lights are out, you can't see to get out.

So this thermal imager, it obviously shows up thermal signals. So a person, you can see the person or you can see like a shelf or things that you can walk past instead of just constantly knocking into stuff until you run out of air and can't get out. So it's a it this is a huge investment for for the safety of firefighters and for the the ability to rescue the citizens here in the county.

Thank you for sharing that.

No problem. Thank you.

Item two sixty two is an expenditure request for envelopes and forms also known as Surebill through the board of assessor's office. This is the mailing service for the notice of assessments. The amount is $26,198.45. This is to the general fund and is a budgeted item. Item two sixty three is a resolution of the board of commissioners of Rockdale County, Georgia adopting the Rockdale County housing assessment. We have Atlanta Regional Commission here this morning to go over the assessment plan. Great.

Good morning, and thank you for having me. My name is Kristen Allen, and I'm a principal planner at the Atlanta Regional Commission. And I'm not sure if you have the slides loaded yet or if I should just go through We have time. Okay, great. So we've been working since June on a housing assessment for Rockdale County through the Community Development Assistance Program. So I'll go ahead and start. So housing falls under two of the goals of the Atlanta Regional Commission. So we are the planning entity for the 11 county Atlanta Metro Region. And healthy, safe, and livable communities, as well as competitive economy, are very important to housing in our region. Next slide, please.

So this project is part of the Community Development Assistance Program through ARC. Next slide. The goals of the housing assessment were really to provide details about the existing understand growth patterns. We really wanted to look at the types and costs of housing, and understand provide the future housing needs in Rockdale County. We wanted to identify appropriate housing metrics, broad program and policy housing strategies, and to support the planning efforts of Rockdale County through this housing assessment.

So those were our overall goals for the final deliverable. Next slide. We had a very active stakeholder committee. The names are listed here. I just wanted to thank everyone involved, as well as the staff for Rockdale County who are very active in participating and supporting this project. Next slide. This was the timeline. As I mentioned, we started in June with a lot of different engagement activities and stakeholder committee meetings, and we are wrapping up now in May 2026.

How many meetings total did you have? Let's see. Six eight ten twelve.

We had 16 project management team meetings. We had four stakeholder committee meetings. And then on the next slide, I'll go through the different interviews that we had that were part of this as well. Okay.

So there were four four meetings for citizens to get involved with? Yes. Okay.

And then we had the town hall presentation, a couple months ago to go through all all of the findings. Okay. Thank you. Next slide, please. So there were 20 members of the stakeholder committee meeting, and we decided to do interviews because we wanted to make sure we had a lot of different representation for this project.

So that's this is a list, of the different interviews that we had between the Conyers Housing Authority, different housing organization representatives that are placed throughout the county, People that applied to the stakeholder committee that weren't selected to be on it, we wanted to hear from them too about their interest. We also met with the city of Conyers. We met with several neighborhood HOA representatives to make sure the neighborhoods were represented as well as Rockdale County Schools. We had a resident survey, with about close to 600 participants. And just wanted to note that kind of the composition of the survey respondents for the residential survey.

So 88% of the respondents reside in Rockdale. Other ones typically worked in the county. 90% were homeowners, 96% live in single family homes, and 47% of respondents have lived in Rockdale for twenty plus years. When we did this survey, I think the really important thing to note here is that the survey responses as well as data analysis really informed this plan. So each of the key findings that we'll talk through in a moment had both a data component and survey responses that supported that key finding.

I also want to just mention that we did a business survey as well to make sure the business community was heard, and we had 23 businesses participate in that as well. Good idea. Next slide, please. So these are just some of the comments that we had from what we heard through both the stakeholder engagement meetings, the surveys. We had a lot of space in the surveys for people to provide commentary.

So I just highlighted a few in red, but there were a lot of different comments, and those are all included in the plan, the full plan, which is available for the public to view. But some of the things that came up were loss of residents due to property taxes, the need for smaller single family homes to be developed, the lack of commercial base, and the need to add affordable housing. So those were some of the comments that we had, among other things like, trees, wages, traffic congestion. So a lot of different things kind of that touch on housing came up during the survey. Next slide, please.

So the Atlanta Regional Commission does a survey every year called Metro Atlanta Speaks, and it's really to gauge the public's views on what is going well, what is needed throughout our 11 county region. This is a statistically significant survey for all 11 counties and the city of Atlanta. And I wanted to point out that housing affordability was the number one issue across all 11 counties, and that also showed up as the number one issue for Rockdale County. So you can see it highlighted there that 34.7% of respondents to the survey in Rockdale County cited affordable housing as the number one issue in the county. So that was ahead of traffic, and I think the next one was the economy after that.

And how does that statistic align with the other counties? I think there were only three counties that selected traffic first and then housing second and then the other, all of the other counties housing was the number one. Next slide, please. So we compiled everything that we found into four common themes. So these were the four recurring themes that we found through the data that we researched as well as the feedback from our surveys. So that housing costs are outpacing local incomes. This is a trend that is not just true for Rockdale County. We see this really nationwide. The housing prices are consistently outpacing local incomes. We did see that here as well.

We saw through this that it puts financial strain on residents and the workforce and increases housing instability. The next one is that the current housing stock, especially the new production, is misaligned with demand. So there are too many of a few product types and not enough affordable including senior and what we call missing middle options, which are in between a single family home and a large apartment complex, so things that are in the middle that might serve different income levels. The next one is the combined impact of property taxes and modest wages is making it harder for people to afford to stay in Rockdale County long term. And then lastly, resident feedback points to intentional infrastructure supported growth that emphasizes amenities and clear community vision rather than scattered conventional development.

Next slide please. So there are two parts to this, to the report, and this is kind of a snapshot of each of the key findings for today's presentation, but there are a lot of information in the full report that is publicly available. So first we'll go through the key findings from the report, and then we'll go through the next steps. So key finding number one is underproduction and gap. So what we found is that even though building permits have increased in recent years in Rockdale County, they still are not enough to close a gap that exists in the county.

And so we looked at this two different ways. Our census numbers revealed a gap of around 2,500 units between 2020 and 2023. And the Georgia Public Policy Foundation also puts out their own gap for every county in Georgia, and they found a gap of 1,700. So what we found is that even the increase in building permits up to fifteen eleven from 2021 to 2025 did not close that gap. So this shortfall is something that has kept supply constrained and increased prices overall.

We'll go into that a little bit more. So the 2.1% growth rate of Rockdale was lagged behind other neighboring counties as well, so just to point out that when we look countywide that it was a slower rate growth than some of the other counties. Next slide please. So key finding So two

is that a the slower rate of growth is that for housing Yes.

Housing unit growth, yes.

Okay.

And if I'm going too fast please tell me if I Okay, need to great. Key finding number two, worsening affordability. So what we highlighted here on the right is a survey result about specifically asking about what concerns citizens that answered that survey have about housing in Rockdale County. And so 65% cited rising prices and then 37%, a pretty high number cited other concerns and so we dug into that in the box with the red kind of red box around it. And just highlighting that property taxes and senior taxes rose to the top as a top concern along with some of the other things listed here.

But back to the graph on the right, 34% said not enough affordable homes, 25% cited a lack of senior housing, 21% a lack of home ownership opportunities. So what we found through this survey as well is that there's a relatively small population in Rockdale because it is not a very dense county that carries the tax burden for the county. So we really looked at the way development has happened over time and how kind of that impact has kind of, has consistently led for feedback around property taxes because people do carry a bit higher percentage of that tax base due to kind of the lack of density in certain areas. Next slide please.

So are you saying that if we had more smaller smaller houses on smaller lots or more apartment buildings or more townhomes, it would ease the property tax? Yes. So there are

two places that the county could really benefit from growing to relieve that tax base, and one would be more dense housing and one would be a more solid commercial base. Those are the two findings that we had. But density of housing is very important and that can actually support that commercial that people would like to have. And when we get to toward the end of this, there are a couple maps that we did, one with the stakeholder group and one through ARC that show areas that people kind of cited as being ripe for densification. So that it's not put out, you know, all throughout the county, it's strategic and it's supported by infrastructure. So I think those are two very important notes to make.

Okay. Thank you.

But yes, yes on apartments and yes on missing middle as well. So key finding three was rising cost burdens. The cost burden is kind of a wonky housing term. It's when a housing when a household is spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs, we call that cost burden. So when people are spending more than 30%, we see that there is more of a financial strain and sometimes those households are spending less on other other things like going out or groceries or healthcare or whatever whatever they need to cut may have to go toward housing.

So we wanted to look at cost burden in Rockdale County and where also where it is rising. So we looked at in the blue 2020 and in the orange 2023, and we saw that there is a rise in cost burden in both the owner households without a mortgage. Although that population is small, that is rising a bit, and as well as renter households. We saw quite, you know, quite a rise in cost burden among renter households in Rockdale County. And then also just to note that owners who do have a mortgage, also there were close to 5,000 households that were experiencing cost burden.

Owner households without a mortgage typically are seniors statistically, so that was one that's one reason that we look at this even though it's not a huge population is just to understand where there might be cost burden among senior households that typically can be on a fixed income. So right now about 35 of all Rockdale households are considered cost burden, and about 40% of the survey respondents struggled to pay for housing or utilities in the past year. So is that a combination of property taxes and the cost of the house itself or the cost of rent? Yes. So for a mortgage owner, it could be just the mortgage itself, it could be rising property taxes, it could be rising insurance, things like that.

Oh, yeah. Insurance.

And so people, seniors on a fixed income as well that the property taxes and insurance can be particularly hard on seniors. Mhmm. And for renters, it can be a combination of things because the rental company also could have things like insurance taxes, insurance going up or property taxes going up, so those fold into the rent. Or they could be purchased and redeveloped and then become more expensive, so there are lot of reasons that rentals can also increase. Next slide.

So key finding four talked about misaligned housing stock. So a question that we asked that we thought was notable was if you need to move to a smaller or larger home in your neighborhood, do you feel that you could find something affordable to your household to move into? And 76% of respondents to the survey said no. So what we find there when we're thinking about someone with a younger child maybe who's graduating or just entering the workforce or a senior, so people just in different situations. Maybe someone who's a single homeowner trying to understand across a county, any county within the metro area, do they have kind of that spectrum of housing that would fit people?

And so this question speaks to that I think. And especially because a lot of people, especially seniors, really want to stay in their neighborhood. They don't want to move outside of their neighborhood. So understanding are there options nearby for them to move into? And this survey points to the fact that there is not.

And so when we looked at the housing types to really understand the housing stock in Rockdale County, you know, we recognize that the current market is dominated by single family homes and it lacks some of those cottages, things like ADUs or granny flats, maybe smaller apartment buildings or larger senior apartment buildings. So some of those stock that people could actually move into but stay in Rockdale County. So another statistic from the survey is that 76% of residents could not find an affordable home in their sorry, that's part of this survey, the 76%, And that the average sale price and rents exceed the affordable range for the median local earner. So that's important to note too is that the average sale price for a home has gotten high enough that now it exceeds the income for the median person in Rockdale County. So that's kind of a threshold you look at for affordability with housing.

Next slide, please. So we also wanted to highlight the key finding five when some of the results from our survey with the employers. So, you know, housing and employment go hand in hand. So you want to have a strong employment base, you want to have a strong housing for your workforce. So those are very important together.

So key finding five is around workforce retention and commutes. That we know that some of the high growth industries, the incomes are not high enough to match the rising cost of living, so health care being one of them. Also education, some of those incomes just are not high enough to reach what is really currently being built here. We understand that limited housing variety can first force the local workforce to commute from other counties so that can hurt labor retention, and that there was recommendation to housing being placed strategically near employment clusters. So this map shows different employment clusters.

Some are bigger and some are pretty small, but it gives us an idea of employment clusters and starts to give us an idea of spatially where some housing densification and housing for workforce could be located. Next slide, please. So key finding six was around targeting density. We mentioned, you know, infrastructure supported density that's near amenities that could help boost the commercial. So key finding six was really around our findings for targeted density and walkability.

The map on the right shows where multifamily is clustered in Rockdale County right now. So most of it kind of in the city of Conyers and then over toward the East side of the county. So we understand that most of the multifamily housing is clustered in Conyers, so that leaves few options in unincorporated Rockdale. The resident survey showed a high demand for walkability, healthcare access, and quality schools. And that intentional density and specific nodes can provide modern amenities without losing community character.

So we talked a lot of HOAs who really want to make sure there are amenities around, things like that. So how do, how can they, how can we structure those and maybe in the future even connect through trails? We talked, people talked about golf carts being a fun option in Rockdale County, which could be great. And then there also, we'll point out on a map in a few slides the trail network, how that might be connected more so with density. Almost done.

So we've got two more key findings. Key finding seven, preservation of existing housing. Thank you. So this map on the right is through the emergency rental assistance priority index. This is a source that shows areas that have higher priority for rental assistance for households that might be housing more unstable and in the darker blue.

And so you can kind of see a band of that throughout the city of Conyers area, kind of in the middle of the county. And so when we're talking about housing instability, we also talk about preservation of existing housing, which is kind of another housing terminology. But when we have older housing stock that might be older and maybe not in as great condition, it can naturally affordable. So it's not always subsidized. Sometimes it's just affordable because it is older stock.

And so we always are trying to get ahead of preserving that and keeping it affordable so that it doesn't roll to market rate and kind of exacerbate the program or problem. And then we also know that sometimes people in certain situations need stability mechanisms. So they might need eviction, emergency eviction assistance or sometimes down payment assistance which can be done through different sources. The state does some of that. Also sometimes employers will set that up.

But how to kind of keep people more stable in their homes. Down payment assistance is a great program. So just to note here that aging housing stock can require rehabilitation programs to maintain it, that some of the census tracts shown in the map are at the highest risk of housing instability, which might require partnerships with the city of Conyers on that. And then prioritizing home repairs and emergency assistance is vital for low income renters and seniors. So when we talk about seniors on a fixed income, sometimes these housing programs can be a lifeline for them.

And then lastly, key finding eight really looked at what we found through this one year process and how it aligned with other plans that Rockdale County has done. And so there's some pictures of the plans that we looked at on the right side, but we really found that Rockdale and Conyers have been having very similar findings throughout these plans and that's really good for us because it's not that we're saying something completely new and unfounded that there's support. There's long term support and these plans all have community engagement embedded in them. So what we found is that the city in Rockdale have been hearing some of these in past plans, they're now reinforced in this plan and that now we can I think, take some movements toward more action? And I know that's already been done with the some of the UDO work and some other things that the county has been doing.

So next slide. So this just talks about a couple of the different reports and what they say about housing. So the Milstead report really talked about infill, which is kind of adding those smaller missing middle housing in that area, and redevelopment of Milstead Village. Sizes could be those lots are smaller sometimes, but there's a really great potential for infill there. The Rockdale Comp Plan talked about housing and growth nodes on corridors and reinvested neighborhoods.

The Conyers Comprehensive Plan really talked again about old town Conyers and those infill sites, so again some opportunity there. The strategic plan talked about housing near services, schools, and transit investments. So if density was around maybe some other schools or around the hospital or shopping malls, how could those then lend themselves more toward linking them with transit, whether that's through a trail or maybe like a bus loop or something like that. The economic development strategy talked about housing in live, work, play districts, so being able to live, work and play all within a certain amount of distance from each other. And then lastly there were some reports on GDOT projects, so kind of that infrastructure supporting housing, so understanding where those transportation plans could support housing.

So I'll go through the next steps next. So years zero to one. Next slide. So these are all detailed in the plan. I'll kind of briefly go through them here, but just years zero to one would be really looking at, and I know this is already going on with the UDO updates, but zoning and land use.

Understanding where to put that higher density, where there's already infrastructure, looking at things like adopting an ADU ordinance or granny flats, piloting some cottage developments, so to see, kind of put those on the ground and have people see what they look like and who they're serving. Determining mechanisms for smaller homes, so in High Rock and they needed their lot sizes to be able to they needed an amendment to make smaller lot sizes okay to build on in those to be able to put housing there. So things like that. Then also we looked oh, yes.

Can I ask you a question about So with the lot size, Millstead works because it's on sewer? But for the other option, those lot sizes, I think, have to be as a minimum square foot of the property of 14,000 square feet.

Okay.

The septic. For Okay.

Yeah. Yeah. Means I think when I looked at those lots, you'd almost have to take two lots and combine them to make it viable for the septic.

Yeah. That's, you know, that's a really great point and so important in a lot of the areas that we work in is the sup issue of septic because septic also does not always work with cottages, cottage development because you have to have a shared septic system unless I mean, I think there are ways to to kind of. Oh I see. And I've

never even heard of a shared septic system quite honestly. Yes. So that is interesting. We can talk

more about that too but I think you know I think that what the takeaway is is that there are things that are gonna be more viable in certain areas.

So

maybe something like a conservation neighborhood which is one of the bullets on here which is a like a couple house housing units with some more green space. Maybe those are more viable in places that don't have sewer. I mean so that's those are something that

I see. Okay. Yeah. That you

guys know that and I think a lot of people here understand is that the the sewer and septic is a big is a big deal so it has to be strategic. So moving on from that, housing mechanisms and target, this is a big number I know, but with the growth projections for the region, and this sounds crazy, ARC is projecting 6,000 to 8,000 new homes being needed by 2050. So it really underscores the need to look at where that density can happen and how those homes fit without, you know, with still preserving the character of the county. Also standing up some housing mechanisms like we talked about down payment assistance or housing rehabilitation programs and establishing partnerships for deep affordability. So that might be with through low income housing tax credit projects, through a housing partnerships with the housing authority here to make sure that there's affordability for people that are earning the lower and the moderate low to moderate incomes.

And then lastly stability and community engagement. So there's some different ways quarterly housing forums, a housing task force, there are different ways that the county can move forward and making sure the community is engaged in as these are implemented and maybe small area plans too. So to keep getting that engagement as we move forward. And I'll go a little more quickly through two and three. Years two and three, so that would be more like streamlining permitting so that it goes faster for things that are needed here, that housing that's needed here, more investments and partnerships like delivering a low income housing tax credit project or a new mixed use project.

And then really looking at preservation and resident stability. And then lastly, here's four to five would be really integrating that planning infrastructure. So that could even be looking at building out trails and aligning the housing in the trails, really looking at underdeveloped land in commercial strips, and then making sure that those housing goals are really put as you do the comprehensive plan update, the strategic plan update, embedding the plans into all of those will help as well. Also some things like data driven monitoring of how you're doing and funding and scaling create understanding how housing might be funded. And then lastly I'll just go through a couple of maps.

So this was an exercise from our stakeholder committee about where would you activate housing, where would you connect housing, where would you preserve housing, rehabilitate or densify based on the color. And if you go to the next slide, you can see the areas that our stakeholder committee picked for densification and preserving and connecting housing. So I thought this was interesting because it starts to give us an idea of areas that might be focal points for this. So they looked at Scott Highway, around the Food Depot area, Old Salem Road, around Johnson Park, around the Horse Park, and then in the city of Conyers. And then if you'll go to the last slide I believe, or we have two more.

The AR so this was the ARC's analysis oh sorry, go one more before that. This was the ARC's analysis of areas that could be densified, so this and it aligns pretty well with I think what the stakeholder committee looked at, but definitely like Old Town Conyers area, Horse Park area, and then just any area that had kind of a commercial like schools or commercial nodes or health care and hospitals as ideas of where densification could happen. And this is also where we have the trail, the future trail and the present trail networks outlined in orange and yellow on here. So really like leaning into connecting through the trail network and kind of densifying around that. And then lastly, we have a tool called the Metro Atlanta Housing Toolkit.

There is a one pager on this toolkit specifically for Rockdale County that goes through these top action steps, and then we have a resource library that shows case studies from around the country assistance. And then ARC is also here to help with any future assistance or implementation. We're excited to do that work with you. But just wanted to thank you again and open it up to any questions.

Thank you. So I was I sat and read skimmed through it last night, but I was so excited about all the work that was done. And thinking about how connects to work that's been done and how we can move forward with even better, more strategic work. I I I personally really appreciate the work that was done. Thank you.

Like I appreciate what you've done and I was tickled that you you were part of the team because you did grow up here and

I did.

And that certainly was much appreciated to have your experience from living here and a little bit a knowledge of lay of the land. But I am excited about several of these reports. I think they are gonna fold nicely into our work for the land bank and things that we're excited about, working in collaboration with the city of Conyers to not only address blight, but also to do infill and some creative other things that will bring an innovative approach to how we address housing, how we stabilize the older housing, and make sure that wherever you live in Rockdale that it is healthy and safe to be there. So Yes. Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you. Alright. Thank you very much, Kristen.

Okay. So that takes us to item two sixty four, which is a requisition to technology services department for SHI International Corporation for email attack protection and support renewal. The amount is $43,632. This is through the general fund and is a budgeted item.

Item two Yes. Can can we hear from director Moore Jackson? Yes. Good morning.

Good morning.

So I know that on on here today, have item two sixty, which is the Barracuda email protection and backup renewal. And then we also have item, two sixty four, which is email attack protection and support renewal. And I think you've, made it very clear across Rockdale County government, that security is a top priority. So can you address these two items and tell us why two different programs are needed?

Yes. Because basically they serve two different functions.

Okay.

First of all, you very much for bringing me up to address the board, and good morning to you all. Item number two sixty is the Barracuda email protection and backup renewal. For the most part, this is a cloud to cloud backup for our Microsoft Office March tenant. It backs up the overall tenant itself, and it backs up the emails and OneDrive. And then the item in two sixty four and also in two sixty five, and I'll get to that, is actually an email protection and support renewal basically what this does it filters the incoming emails for spam and junk and malware so they're doing two totally different functions.

Okay. Alright. Very good.

And then while you have two different items there, 64 and 65, when the invoice was originally given to us, the vendor needed to do basically a true up of the number of endpoints in the environment that we have for the county. So the first one that was previously approved by the board, number 265, is being rescinded. And number 264 is a is a new one that will is a basically renewal of that, and it better reflects the number of endpoints that we have in the environment.

Okay. Alright. Yeah. That's a big difference, but understood. Very good. Thank you for being so passionate about what you do. Okay. It shows in all of your actions and words. Thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you. Mhmm.

So thank you, director Moore Jackson. But this is a good segue for us to stop for a moment. And if the board would take items two fifty through two sixty four because two sixty five will be a vote to rescind.

K. Thank you. So I move to, approve two fifty through two sixty four. Madam chair, I second the motion.

I have a motion and a second. Are there any questions? No, ma'am. Alright. All in favor, aye.

Aye. Aye. The motion carries. K. Item 265 was with SHI International. It's to resend contract 2026Dash58. The contract was approved on 03/24/2026 through the technology services department for an email attack protection and support renewal. The amount, $36,036. The term was 03/25/2026 through 03/24/2027 through the general fund and was a budgeted item. If you could take that one by itself.

Madam chair, I move to rescind, this contract as presented. I second the motion.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Aye. The motion carries.

Okay. Item two sixty six is a requisition through the general services department for Freon Furniture Care of Impact Office Interiors. This is furniture for the JAC project. The amount is $116,299.20. This is also JAC funded and is a budgeted item.

Item two sixty seven is a requisition to the general services department for Exemplis LLC doing business as sit on it care of Impact Office Interiors. This is for furniture for the JAC project. The amount is $84,052.68. This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item. JAC is the judicial and administrative complex.

Thank you.

Item two sixty eight is a requisition through the general services department for AIS care of impact office interiors. This is furniture for the JAC project. The amount is $58,039.20. This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item. Item two sixty nine is a requisition through the general services department for JSI Jasper Seating Company care of Impact Office Interiors.

This is furniture for the JAC project. The amount is $83,400.61. This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item. Item two seventy is a requisition through general services department for Lodiflex care of impact office interiors. This is furniture for the JAC project.

The amount is $397,895.81. This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item. Item two seventy one is a requisition through the general services department for Global Industries Care of Impact Office Interiors for furniture for the JAC project. The amount is $32,866.68. This is JAC funded and is a budgeted item.

Item two seventy two is a resolution of Rockdale County, Georgia amending resolution twenty twenty six dash zero one on the acceptance, processing, and approval of applications relating to the establishment or expansion of data centers and battery energy storage systems through 09/08/2026, providing findings of fact, stating purpose and intent, providing an effective effective period and for other purposes. Item two seventy three is a resolution of Rockdale County, Georgia extending a moratorium and amending resolution 2025 dash 31 on the acceptance, processing, and approval of applications for certain residential care facilities through 09/08/2026, providing findings of fact, stating purpose and intent, providing an effective period, and for other purposes. And item two seventy four is a resolution of Rockdale County, Georgia, amending resolution twenty twenty five dash zero five, resolution number twenty twenty five dash 17, and resolution twenty twenty six dash zero five, further extending a moratorium on the acceptance, processing, and approval of applications on certain residential development activities through 09/08/2026, providing findings of fact, stating purpose and intent, providing an effect effective period and for other purposes. So we left off at item

two sixty six. Madam

Clerk,

just on item two seventy two, isn't that also extending the moratorium?

Yes. In fact, all three of these are extending current moratoriums that are in effect right now. So yes. Okay.

Very good. It's not noted on the record on February.

Okay. Yes. They're all three extending. Okay. We'll make sure we make that change.

And director White, can you address us regarding these three items and what the moratorium extension will allow your department to achieve?

Good morning, board of commissioners. Good morning. And so these three moratoria are tied to our Unified Development Code update. So we've been actively going through that process since last spring. And so the data center, obviously, we've had a lot of conversation about data centers, battery energy storage, and so we put forth resolutions to extend the moratorium to continue to allow staff to do further research on data centers, all of the adverse impacts that come along with it, a lot of the feedback that we've heard during the process so far.

So we started a draft earlier this year. We continue to refine the draft, and so this will give us some additional time, take in more feedback, do some more research, and ultimately end hopefully with a product that's satisfactory to the community. Similarly for residential care facilities and also for residential development, we're still working through that process as part of the code update, looking at setbacks, development standards for residential development particularly. Also for the residential care facilities, we've introduced the terms for personal care homes. We've researched what state allows and so we're aligning our definitions, terms with the state regulations and also trying to refine that use in both the commercial context and residential context with obviously limitation to both.

So extended these moratorium will give us more time to do that precious work that we need to do. So we appreciate the consideration.

Yes. Think we've laid some groundwork with the UDO updates, But I think I'm really excited that we've decided to extend this because it will allow us to refine it, especially after hearing our housing assessment and some of the areas that really need to be targeted in our UDO to start with.

Yes ma'am.

When I first read, you know, this is what we need before by 2050 and I thought, woah, we're really out the ballpark and then I thought, oh no, that's only twenty four years. And as I was looking at some of the statistics it said that two thirds of our housing is more than 26 years old. So, you know, it's mind boggling.

A lot of work to do.

A lot

of work. Mhmm. We appreciate what you're doing.

Thank you. That's

interesting.

Very good. Thank you. Mhmm.

Okay. So we have items two sixty six through item two seventy four.

Before we start that, for the one that you were talking about two seventy two, not only is it not listed here that's a moratorium, it's not on the paperwork as well on the resolution. I just wanna make sure that we know that's gonna be corrected.

We will make sure that that gets into the record and it's corrected at all three moratoria or extensions.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Very good. I think also the beauty of this extension is not just the finality of the UDO being updated, but it would allow for more interaction with the public as well as implementation by the office. Absolutely. Thank you. Exactly. Alright.

It's time to have a motion. Okay. So I I move that we approve 266 to two seventy

four. Ma'am chair, I second the motion. Alright.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor, say aye. Aye. The motion carries. At this time, we'll start with court comment. Commissioner Smith.

Yes, ma'am. Thank

you. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Just a reminder that constituent liaison services are still being offered through the former congressman Dave Scott's office at our library on Fridays from ten to twelve. If you still have concerns, that office is still gonna be there every Friday until someone has been, elected.

Also, to invite you to our the Great American Cleanup event, that's gonna be on a Sunday, May 31 from nine to twelve at Pinelog Park. And the address for Pinelog Park is 1451 Pinelog Road. And if you're interested or your group would like to participate and volunteer, you can go to kr kcrbclean.org to sign up as a volunteer. Also, we're starting and gearing up our, One Rock Back to School Bash, and that's gonna be on July 25 from ten to one. And we need sponsors, we need donations, and you can make that, through an Amazon link that's gonna be available on the Rockdale County School, website.

Or if you have need information about that or need the link, I can send you the link so you can make your donations. And they will be also receiving donations at Johnson Park if you want to just pick up something and drop it off. If you want to be a vendor, we're looking for vendors to come out and present what you offer to the community. And you can do that. Also, sign up through Johnson Park to our Parks and Recreations Department to become a vendor for this event. That's those are my comments. And I will look forward to seeing everyone tonight at our town hall and to listen and just hear what you have to say. And not just hear, but actually consider what you have to say. I know people thinking that, you know, we're we don't lit we just listen. We don't you know, we just hear you.

We don't listen. But we actually do. I speak it for myself. I actually do. And I do think that they also have the best interest of our community at heart. Thank you.

Commissioner Williams?

Okay. I like your comment about the town hall tonight. Mhmm. I think it is I'm I'm I think the fact that we have heard what the citizens have commented and wanted about data centers in particular is reflected in extending this moratorium on the data center so that we can be really strategic about what we're doing and we know all of the ramifications, all the pros and all the cons before we make any further decisions on that. I wanted to start first by just mentioning that we just had Mother's Day.

Mother's Day can be a mixed bag for people. Because sometimes people are uncomfortable with Mother's Day. Maybe they didn't have a mother that they felt provided what they needed, but others absolutely love what their mothers did for them and continue to do. And so I just wanna wish all of all of the women a happy Mother's Day. I hope it was enjoyable for you and you found something that satisfied you and made you feel valued and special.

I also wanted to point out that this Saturday is the district attorney's, mental health for youth day at Johnson Park, and this has been ongoing for a number of years. It's a really important event, especially for our youth. Bring bring your children and and educate yourself on more about mental health. This one's targeted for youth, but a lot of it is applicable to all of us. I really appreciate again the housing assessment.

It really solidifies for me some of the ideas of where we need to go and how we need to do it, and I so appreciate having it researched, having it citizen input, and having it incorporated into our UDOs so that we can move forward in a really positive way for Rockdale County. Those are my comments.

Thank you. I'd like to note that last week we celebrated the water water appreciation week, and I wanna give a shout out to the water department under the leadership of doctor Kimbri Peak and his entire team, and also thank Maria Flint for helping organize the event on Saturday. There were so many families that came out and enjoyed not just the amenities that were there, the food trucks, and, but all the vendors who did really a nice job supporting the event. So thank you to that department as well as our parks and recreation department. We do have our schedule for our first concert, which will be Sunday, June 28.

And that day, we will also have another event that will be featured as well for families. So we will we hope to continue to build these family events so that people feel comfortable coming out, spending time in the parks, outdoors, and enjoying meeting their neighbors and friends in the community. In addition, on Sundays from one to four, we have our farmers market, and growing season is almost here. So in the next couple of weeks, you'll see a lot more of the produce that will be harvested. So we're excited about that in addition to Wednesdays over at Pinelog Park for our 03:00 to 06:00 farmer's market as well.

So we're still looking for vendors in the community. So if you'd like to participate, know that Leslie Lambert is helping coordinate that, and, we will be glad at the county to help put you to in connection with her. Memorial Day is coming, and it's a patriotic community, we are encouraging our HOAs and people in the community to remember, feel free to decorate your mailboxes in red, white, and blue, and join the fun of displaying our appreciation for our veterans in the community. And, the the support certainly would be welcome. And then last, again, thank you, Kristen Allen, for, you know, bringing to us the housing assessment.

It was definitely a very thorough and well laid out, document, and I'm excited about seeing how that works to, improve opportunities for people in our community as well as improve the aesthetics of Rockdale County and, just give us an energized new look, right here at home. So thank you to our partners at ARC for that help. That are those are all the comments I have today. Madam Clerk, do we have a

need for executive session? No, madam chair.

Alright. Thank you. And at this time, we'll adjourn our meeting.