City Commission - Regular Meeting

Uh we start every meeting with invocation and pledge of the flag and tonight I'm going to call on commissioner and mayor and commissioners. I would like to pass my opportunity on to Dr. Eric Robertson. Would you come to the podium? He is the pastor at Main I mean the pastor at Friendship Baptist Church in Cedartown, Georgia. And he is also the head administration the principal at Maine Elementary.

Thank you. Thank you. Let us pray please. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to gather today in service to our community. We ask for your guidance over this meeting and over those entrusted with leadership in our city. Grant wisdom in every decision, patience in every discussion, and a spirit of cooperation among all who serve the people of Rome. Help us remember that our work here affects families, neighborhoods, and future generations. May we seek what is right, act with integrity, and serve with humility for the good of all. In your name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Amen. 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, pastor.

Mr. Clerk, would you please call the role? Yes, sir. Mayor Bojo here. Commissioner Robinson here. Brock uh Commissioner Brock is out of the country. Commissioner Cochran is out of the country tonight. Commissioner Bean here. Fisher here. Dixon here. Collins here. And McDaniel here. Have everyone got a chance to look at the U minutes from our February 23rd meeting? Are there any corrections, additions, or so forth that need to be made? Good.

All good. Then we will approve them as written. We have no proclamations tonight. No guests are speaking tonight. No resolutions. No first readings. And on second reading, we have a downtown sidewalk ordinance. And um Mr. Clerk, are you going to handle that? Uh Mr. Mary, you just uh for tonight's purposes, no public hearing necessary, but we would need a motion to take action on that adoption of the ordinance. So move. We got a motion. Got a second. Is there any discussion? All right. We will move that to second reading for next time. Is it first reading or second reading?

This was vote. This was second. All right. If there's no discussion, Mr. Clerk, call the role. Yes, sir. Commissioner Robinson, yes. Bean, yes. Fisher, yes. Hixon, yes. Collins, yes. McDaniel, yes. Nothing unconted. First reading, clerk.

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mayor. At your last meeting, you'll recall that there was a request before you um for a it was a request for relief for a coin operate amusement machines at the stop and go located at 400A Calhoun Avenue. Uh you all elected to table that request at the last meeting in order to give our office, the clerk's office, um time to notify the surrounding property owners. So, we have done that and we are scheduled to take that item off the table at your next meeting which would be on March the 23rd. Okay. So, no further action on that? No, sir.

All right. Mr. Manager.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just briefly want to mention um as part of the legislative process this year, we have been tracking a House Bill 116 that addresses uh property taxes and specifically um homestead tax. And so there was a a bill that actually ended up getting approved late Friday on crossover day and that is a new version of House Bill 1116. And just wanted to mention to the commission that we're we're going to be uh studying that and diving in as they work and it will now be sent over uh to the Senate side to continue that discussion. But it's um it's been all eyes um at least in the in the municipal world and with ACCG and GMA watching this bill. And so, um, what was approved is sort of cobbled together, but just wanted to make y'all aware that that does appear to be making its way through and it's a very different version than we thought they might be voting on. So, we'll continue to study that, but just giving you that as a heads up. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Attorney. And under my time, there will be a ribbon cutting on the Mount Berry Trail at the Mount Berry Trail Park uh this Thursday, 12:00, excuse me, March 12th at 3:00. And that is located behind the post office on Martha Berry Boulevard. Also, the Rome Floyd Development Authority will meet Tuesday, March 17th, 9:00 at 800 Broad Street. Um, we talked about in caucus about West End Elementary Amazing Shake. I remind you of that Wednesday 18th. Please, uh, call Kelly or Tabitha, either one, and they will get you the information that you need. Uh and one more thing that I did get to take part in. Um there was an active shooter drill that was held at uh Rome High School last sa well the last two Saturdays and um that it was very very eyeopening to see what would happen if an active shooter actually got into one of our schools. And um they are going to have some more of these drills coming along the way. I'm I don't know any dates of any more right at this time. They're going to let me know if anyone is interested. Uh I went up there. It was a 4hour deal. I was going to be there for a couple hours. But I want to tell you when when you get get in and just watch and that's all I did. I was not a part of any of the drills. Um you I didn't want to leave because I wanted to see what they were going to do next. And one time it started at 8:00. One time around 10 10:15 I said something about I was going to leave and they said, "Oh, the best is yet to come." And it and I want to tell y'all it was what they did at the very end. And um anybody's interested in that, let

me know and I'll get you hooked up. Commissioner Robinson caught me off guard there. Uh the finance committee will meet Friday, March the 20th at 10:30 in the Sam King room and but there's not going to be a meeting on the 25th as originally scheduled. Um and I got one more thing if I may say while

it's my time. Um the the thing that Billy Cooper came in and talked to us about the Cranum, is that the name of is is very serious. I watched an article on that on Fox News the other day and I' I've been keeping up with it and it has actually gone through the um crossover and it's been sent to the Senate. It's HB968. So, uh everybody's getting on board on this about trying to get a get ahead of it because it is such a serious drug uh with the kids. So, just wanted to kind of give an update that that is moving forward in the Senate. So, thank you, Mr. Commissioner, that's all I have.

All right. Commissioner Brock, as I said, is not here today. Um, he is out of town that and I will tell you on his part that the downtown development authority hold its board planning retreat uh Tuesday and Wednesday, March 10th and 11th, that's tomorrow and Wednesday, in the Carnegie training room. And the transportation policy committee will meet Wednesday, March 18th, 10:00 in the Carnegie training room. And uh Commissioner Cochran is also not here and uh he had no report. Uh Commissioner Bman,

thank you. Mayor, the Historic Preservation Committee will meet Wednesday, March the 18th at 2:30 p.m. in the commission chambers and would keep Ron Floyd beautiful. I would ask everybody to save the date of Friday, uh April the 10th, 2026, 2 o'clock p.m. to 4:00 p.m. And that is the Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful 50year celebration. and with the public safety committee. The public safety committee will meet on Tuesday, March the 17th at 2 o'clock PM in the Sam King room. And that concludes my report. Mayor. All right. Uh, Commissioner Fischer,

public works, traffic, transit, trails committee will meet on Wednesday, March 11th at 10:00 a.m. in the Sam King room. And for solid waste commission, I have no report. Could you remind us also, Commissioner Fisher, about to see a date on the What is it on the 24th? Yes. A work session to um further do a deep dive into our 2040 comprehensive plan and also to discuss strategic planning and how we want to move forward with that as a commission. Right. That's April 24th. April 24th

looking at 12 to 4. I think it was 12 to 4 is what we discussed. Okay, just to understand the strategic planning that's already happened within the different departments so that we're not working in a silo off by ourselves and then to talk about how we want to move forward. Thank you, Commissioner Hixon.

Yeah, the alcohol control commission have two uh meeting schedules for the calendar. There's a call meeting tomorrow, March 10th, at 5:00 pm in the commission chambers. And then the same ACC will also meet Monday, March 16th at 5:00 uh p.m. in here in the commission chambers. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Commissioner. Uh, Commissioner Collins, uh, if you could stroll that up for me.

Okay, guys. Uh, the Northwest Regional Mission will meet on March the 19th, 11:00 a.m. in the uh, civic center. And uh, I don't have anything from community development. I will tell you that uh, for the last two weeks that Rome Floyd County had a 8 and under basketball team playing basketball in the regional tournament as well as the uh state tournament and that team did very well and they came in uh run up to the state championship. We played teams from Savannah, Atlanta, etc., etc. But they really represented Rome. Well, that's all I have. Mr. Mayor,

Commissioner McDaniel. Thank you, Mayor. At our last meeting, uh we had three uh actually four appointments that were tabled and uh we need to take these appointments off the table tonight. The Rome Floyd Land Bank Authority We need to take those off the table first. Pardon? We need to take those off the table first. Yeah, I'm going to give the names and then we'll take a motion to take them off the table. I thought that had to come first.

Well, I was going to give the names so that people would know what we're taking off the table. Okay. Uh uh Melinda Brown is a joint city and county appointee that serves on the Rome Floyd Land Bank Authority. Uh Colette Hollingsworth would be on the downtown development authority and the alcohol control uh commission uh reappoint for Taylor Mcichael and Doug Phillips. So we will need a motion to take those folks off the table. So a second. And those people all have their applications in.

Yes. Yeah. And we approve those uh committee meeting at general administration committee on committees. All right. We've heard the nominations. Um take Yeah. This is just a we'll need to voting to take them off the table. Right. That's correct. and then we'll take a vote to appoint them. Call the role on taking it off the table. We need a motion to take them off the table and second call. Yeah. So, just just to clarify, the motion was made by Commissioner Collins and seconded by Commissioner Robinson to remove these items from the table. That's correct.

And I'll call the role in order for us to do so. Uh, Commissioner Robinson, yes. Bean, yes. Fiser, yes. Hixon, yes. Collins, yes. McDaniel, yes. And now we'll need a motion to appoint those individuals. We can do those at one with one vote. Yes, sir. So move. Yeah. Second. I have a motion and second to reappoint to appoint those individuals uh to the positions that I mentioned earlier. I'll call the role. Commissioner Robinson, yes. Bean, yes. Fisher, yes. Hixon, yes. Collins, yes.

McDaniel, yes. We have uh from the committee on committees nominations for Rome Floyd Planning Commission, Brianna High Totower. and for Rome Floyd Parks and Recreation, a nomination for Mary Harden Thornon. And those are nominations uh that will sit uh on the table for two weeks and we will vote on those folks in two weeks.

We also, Mr. Chairman, be going back seeking another application for the housing authority. some more openings that possibly could be coming forward. The next time general administration meets, committee on committees will meet as a part of that meeting and we will have u names brought forward then. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

The next item I have is the city commission protocol for guest speakers. We discussed that in caucus. Um Sammy, do we need to go back over that again? I well just for the public benefit mayor I would share what what was recommended out of general administration committee is to simply split how we receive public input. And so guests or members of the public speaking on items that are on the agenda would be scheduled near the front of the meeting immediately following our ceremonial items and approval of minutes. And then for public comments that are not on topic of the agenda, they would be moved to the end of the agenda after all the official business. And so um not a huge change in what we do now. Simply you would divide um if it's not about an item on the agenda, you would be put to the end of the meeting and it would make the meetings a little more um aerodynamic, if you will. And so that's what general administration discussed and that's what comes before this body tonight. And otherwise registration would be the same as far as reaching out to the clerk's office ahead of time to to ask to be placed on the agenda. So really nothing uh changes besides the the split.

That comes as a motion from general administration. Second that. All right, we got a motion in a second. We have any discussion?

Clerk, you can call the role. Commissioner Robinson, yes. Commissioner Beaman, yes. Fisher, yes. Hixon, yes. Collins, yes. McDaniel, yes. The only other announcement I have is the health board will meet Thursday, March 12th at 12 PM at the Floyd County Health Department. That's all I have. Thank you, Mr. Commissioner. We did go into executive session to discuss some real estate. Uh, Commissioner Robinson made the motion to go in. Commissioner Fischer Fish Fischer made the uh second

and then uh after discussion where there was no vote taken uh Commissioner Collins made the motion to come out of executive session and Commissioner Robinson seconded that motion. So, um Mr. Mayor, if I have a moment of personal privilege when you get

Sure. Go ahead. I just want to say that I know that this community at some point in time going to be inundated with data centers, but I want to take a moment to uh follow you not been paying attention to to pay attention to the work that our mayor brother-in-law has been doing down there in the capitol as a state senate. He is working very hard to make absolutely certain that we are not faced with the extra charges that could come forth uh in the form of electric water etc of charging us citizens and uh I think they worked to 12:00 the other night and uh Senator state senator Chuck Hostella is doing an absolutely fantastic job for the citizens up here in Rome as well as all our team. I think the the uh manager had a chance to be down there the other day. Could you tell us a little bit what you observed manager?

Sure. Thank Thank you, Commissioner. And yeah, just as you said for for crossover day, I went down as part of our um legislative policy council. So there's there's been a number of bills in in the session this year. So it's been very active for for GMA. And as I mentioned earlier with 1116, that's just one of those that was a bit of a surprise and how that um they were initially it was going to require a state constitutional amendment out of house resolution 114 and so they decided to remove uh that so they could move forward with 1116. So, it's uh fast and furious. A lot of bills and so lot a lot of work to go and so we're we're not out of the woods so to speak, but it'll be interesting to continue to see how this session ends up for us.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. I got one comment. Sure. Just remember that tomorrow's election and if you haven't early voted already, be sure and exercise your right to vote because u even though it seems like it's a small election this time, it's very important one. So make sure everybody gets there. That's all. Anyone else, Mr. Mayor? Yes.

After 10 years of trying, we only got the Atlanta television media to come up today nice when I stepped out of the caucus that was airing about three and a half minute piece was a very nice maybe that'll spur some of the others to come up here see what we've got the reporter who came up had no clue about the offense Thank you, Doug.

I I got one thing, too. If you I'm sorry to follow up with Doug. I was in California last week and I happened to be in line at a coffee shop and standing there and it was four ladies that obviously looked like they were playing tennis. and I just struck up a conversation with them and it turns out one of them played in Rome at the tennis center and she said that is one incredible facility that y'all should be very proud of and I said well we are very proud of it and so she's looking forward her groups coming back to Rome for a tournament um sometime spring but uh just to hear that from somebody just at random way away from home to to compliment our facility I think that's something that we're all very proud of. I won't say anything else. Thank you,

Mr. Mayor. If I may make a um I'm sorry, a comment. Um I want to have everybody mark their calendars uh for Florida Commission on Children and Youth. they are um presenting who's smarter than a third grader and yours truly is there to rattle up some of the third graders and um you know the commit the community um the commission of children and youth they do a lot to help our youth in our schools and our communities and wish everybody keep that date in mind and help support that at the city auditorium when is the date

it is April 14th at 6:00. Where? At the Rome City Auditorium right downstairs. All right. Anyone else? Jim, you might want to change your clock. That's Joe's job. He's on vacation. We need to adjourn the meeting. One job. Got one job. Got one job. All right. If there's nothing else, we are journed. A 30 minute meeting. That was awesome. Yeah.