City Commission - Regular Meeting

And we begin every meeting with an invocation and a pledge to our flag. And Commissioner Collins, excuse me. Yes, thank you. Commissioner Collins is not here tonight. He is excused from tonight's meeting. That's what I was thinking about. Commissioner Cochran, will you please do the invocation?

Yes, I'd be glad to. Thank you. If everyone mind bowing their heads. Dear Lord, we come to you tonight and we ask for wisdom and grace. We ask for you to let us conduct the city's business efficiently and effectively and just look at things through your eyes. We ask that you bless the city of Rome, that you lay a hedge of protection over its first responders, and that you just go with us and be with us. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag.

Mark, will you please call the roll? Yes, sir. Mayor Bojo? Here. Commissioner Robinson? Here. Brock? Here. Cochran?

Here.

Beeman? Here. Fisher? Here. Hickson?

Here.

McDaniel? Here.

Everyone should have received copies of the minutes from not only our last meeting on June 8th, but our called meeting on June 15th. Any corrections that need to be made to those? They will stand as written. We did have some special recognitions tonight for some appointments that were made, and neither one of these ladies were able to make it to the meeting tonight, but the Rome Redevelopment Agency is Tabitha Helms, and the Northwest Georgia Housing Authority is Kirun Ruiz, and so those two ladies will be joining those committees. We got no public comments tonight regarding agenda items, no resolutions, and we've got a couple items on first reading, and I'm going to call on Clerk Joe Smith.

Yes, sir. We have an ordinance for a street closing, actually a number of streets in the East 19th and East 20th Street area. You all adopted the first step of this process by adopting a resolution a few weeks ago. That resolution has been advertised as the law requires, and now the ordinance is back before you. So we do have that for first reading tonight, and we'll schedule it for a second reading and vote on July 13th. The second item is also an ordinance amendment regarding the public consumption of alcohol in our downtown area. You've all heard a presentation at caucus tonight about expanding what we currently have from three days to seven days, but that will be up for a second reading, discussion, and vote also at our next meeting on July 13th.

Thank you, sir. We have nothing on a second reading. Nothing continues on first reading. We have several public hearings tonight, and I'm going to call on Bryce Wood.

Thank you, sir. We have several items for you this evening. The first is an annexation request. That is 826-06-03 for the property of 203 Burnett Ferry Road. shown on your screen here. This is an old convenience store that predates the adoption of the ULDC. There is no proposed change in use or zoning. The blue line here is the city limits line. Everything north of it is in the city. Everything south of it is in the county. You have a zoning map of the area, the application itself, a letter from the applicant's attorney, some follow-up exhibits, a deed. Map they provided from Kew Public. A plat showing distances. Proof that the property taxes have been paid. Proof that we put the sign on the property. And just an overall look of the surrounding area. This did come with a staff recommendation of approval and approval from the Planning Commission by a vote of seven to two. Thank you.

All right, is there anyone here? tonight that would like to speak in favor of this option. Just a minute. Is there anyone here that is opposed? All right, sir, would you please step to the microphone, give us your name, your address, and you will have 10 minutes.

Sure, thank you. My name is Fisher Law. I represent the property owner in this request for annexation, Sri Haridas and Darshan Patel. My office is at 409B Broad Street here in Rome. We're here tonight to request annexation into the city. As Bryce said, the property is a convenience store. It's been operated as such since before the ULDC was adopted in 2001. The basis and the reason for our request is that my client would like to enjoy an increase in his property value from coming into the city. That's raised questions before and so we're just going to address those head on. You can see a difference in property value among convenience stores and gas stations in between the county and city. One example I will give you is our property sold in 2020 for $38 a square foot. It's on 0.32 acres. It's 2,600 square feet. It was built in 1975. If you go look at the property at 1807 Maple, It's also 1.32 acres. It's 300 square feet larger. It's a little newer and sold for $43 a square foot. That's one way to see the difference in the betterment property values in the city. The other very practical way to see that, especially for my client, is that because we cannot operate or offer Co-Am at our location, my client is currently taking a bath on about half the fair market value rent that he would be able to get from another convenience store operator if he had the ability to operate Co-Am there. The reason we can't operate Co-Am there is because the county distance regulations don't allow us to do Um, we had co-am there previously before the new county restrictions came into effect. Um, but we had a bad tenant, our bad tenant got in trouble. Um, and as part of that tenants judicial process, I guess he signed a consent decree, um, that stated and that the county takes to mean that no one at my client who owns the property No one can have COAM there anymore unless they comply with the new distance regulations. Now you can see how that can be troubling and I'll put it to you in a construct that is perhaps more familiar to you. A very common real estate investment is to own a downtown building or to own a restaurant and typically, a lot of the time, restaurant operators don't own their own property, at least not the person. So you lease it to a restaurant operator. What if that restaurant or that sports bar, whatever it has you, gets busted selling beer to minors? And as part of that restaurant owner's criminal process or citation resolution, they say, we agree that there will never be alcohol sold at this restaurant again. I hope that in that instance you can see that that would be a huge detriment to the property owner's investment there. If you have a restaurant building that can't serve alcohol, you could have a dry restaurant but when you know you had booze before and we're making money off of a tenant they could pay rents for an area that could have booze that's going to hurt your pocketbook and so this is the problem we're trying to fix tonight we're coming to the city to ask to be annexed in it comes before you with a recommendation that it be approved by the planning commission we also had the recommendation to be approved when we were before you or this request was before you in december And we just ask you to follow the Planning Commission's recommendation. We're already on city sewer. We're already on city water. Everything above us or north of us is in the city, so it's already part of the city police route. And we don't have any additional students to contribute to the school or to strain the school's resources. All we have to offer for the city is additional tax revenue. And I'll be candid with you there. It's about $4,500 a year based on the current assessment value. That's not gonna make the city's budget. But when we have schools in the city system that have been singled out on the governor's list for inadequate performance, I would put the question to you that doesn't every dollar count? Doesn't every dollar that can come into the city count every dollar that goes to our schools count? Now, the last thing I will say in favor of this is all you have to do is follow your prior practice. I sent an open records request to Mr. Smith asking for minutes and from planning commission meetings or city commission meetings where there had ever been a denial of annexation. We went back and forth, me and the city attorney, and I said, look, let's just limit it to electronic searches, whatever you can find electronically. I don't want to take you away from you know, what you're really doing. And so they searched back to when the ULDC was first adopted, roughly 2001, August 2001, and there was no instance they were able to locate of a request for annexation being denied other than this request that was before you in December. So we have 25 years of this commission's practice of approving requests to annex, approving people that want to come into the city, and approving things that are going to improve or increase the city's tax rolls. I will come right out and say I know that there have been members of this commission and elsewhere that have voiced their objections to COAM and having COAM. But COAM, when it's operated in accordance with the city ordinances, is a legitimate business activity. And where our tenant to elect to go get a COAM license, we will hold them to complying with the legal ordinances and the regulations in the city. Their lease actually requires that they do not operate in an unlawful manner, and we can evict them if they are caught doing anything in an illegal manner. And so... we would ask that you take that into consideration, that my property owner is not the one that did anything bad here. He's got a family to feed. He has investments, and he wants to protect those real estate investments. I know many of you are familiar with that. So what we're asking is to be annexed into the city, and again, it's consistent with the Planning Commission's recommendation. It's consistent with 25 years of this commission's own practice, and it's just going to add to the tax rolls, and it's not really going to be a detractor on any of the city services. So thank you.

Is there anyone to speak of opposition? I didn't see anyone before. All right, I got a couple of questions, and I'm sure the The rest of the panel up here may also. Since your client has owned this store, has there been any violations where there was police involvement, like selling to minors, alcohol to minors, or anything like that?

Since my client has owned the property, he purchased this property in 2020, and to be honest with you, I cannot say whether there has or there have not. That's an important piece. I agree with you. I think that that's, you know, whatever kind of the, if there was a problem with alcohol, there's not, to my knowledge, been any issues with the current beer and wine permit that's there now. And I think the only thing that we've been deemed for in the past was COAM, and that was a tenant that we don't have anymore. And speaking to that, and I understand, Mr. Mayor, your concern about that, but, you know, we do have enforcement mechanisms that can come in, and if there is a problem, deal with it then. I would just ask that you not think, you know, kind of too prophylactically and anticipate that there will be problems if we don't have evidence of problems.

Major Bailey, do you know of any problems that have been at this store? Sir?

I have a question, if I could answer.

All right, go ahead. I may have heard this wrong, but I think your primary... I hope I heard it wrong, but your primary reason... is the $4,500 would help us with our failing school system?

I don't think that that's how I phrased it, but I said that I think every dollar counts, and I think that the parents of the students in this city would say that every dollar counts.

Boy, we appreciate that.

I got one comment. You mentioned that in 25 years we haven't denied an annexation. Would your client be open to annexation with the restriction of no COEMs?

That undermines our basis for seeking annexation. Exactly.

You know, that's what we're anti. You know how much a city gains from Co-Am machines?

Yes.

Zero. Nothing. But we have to police them. We have to do all this. We have to go out and all this. So we get no benefit from it. So we've had one property annexed with the restriction of no Co-Ams. Right. He agreed to do that.

I could be persuaded, but... Well, I would say that, you know, the city does enjoy some benefits of COAM. Largely, COAM gets people in the door to the store.

What did you just say? We get benefit from it?

Let me finish. You receive benefits here from sales tax revenue, not on the COAM, but on the Cheetos and on the Gatorades that sell as a result of getting people into the store. You know, and I... I'm not sure what we can do to address the city's desire for revenue off of the COAMs. I'm pretty sure that my client and any other COAM operators don't really have a problem of sharing that with you guys. That's just a problem that we have with the state legislature.

So what you're asking us to do is fix what our friends over at the county said you could.

it would be a fix yes sir it would be a fix for us but i mean i also would ask you to look at it like this we have a business that is operating currently and would like to come into the city and operate what is otherwise a legitimate business activity that we allow you know anyone else who meets the distance regulations in the city to do and it's not going to be an additional convenience store i know we just pass new regulations to limit you know, where convenience stores and gas stations can go because we were worried about a proliferation of them. This isn't an additional convenience store gas station. It's already existing. It's really just asking you to move the line. We do that entirely respectfully.

You're already getting city water, city sewer. That's right. And other city services. That's correct. And even we spoke earlier, Joe, even if we, you know, granted he still has to go through the process of getting the corn operating application through.

Yes, sir. If this property were annexed, he would need to, I assume, want to acquire a city of Rome beer package license. That's right. And he's already said that he wants a COAM license. And there are regulations in place that have to be met before either of those can be issued. And one of which are distance requirements. And the closest protected institution is probably the homes that are around there. And I have not, when we get an application, we require a survey from a registered land survey showing those distances. So I can't say for certain whether or not he meets our distance requirements for a COAM or not, but there are distances in place in your ordinance.

All right, anyone down here have any more comments, questions? Anyone on this end?

Yes, I do. So I know you made a comment about how all the monies that, I mean, the revenues that the city will want to utilize Well, my mom used to tell me all money is not good money. And we don't have failing schools. We have transitioning schools who are moving upward. And my concern is that you're talking about with the machines and they have, which is, you might as well say it's just gambling. So when they're gambling and they're buying the chips and the drinks and the sodas, is that good money?

You know, that decision is not for me to make, but I think that that decision has been made elsewhere. And I think that we have to respect the intelligence and the moral wherewithal of our own constituents and let them make the choices that they believe are best for them.

So having Co-Am machines in our neighborhood or community, I can see a convenience store because we're buying gas. But if you start putting gambling, you say Co-Am, but they're gambling machines in thriving communities, what does that do to thriving communities?

Well, I believe that there was Co-Am at the store before. We had a bad tenant, but I mean, I have no reason to believe that the neighborhood around there suffered in any way from that. You know, I think, again, we need to assume that we have a knowledgeable and self-protecting constituency here and that the people of Rome can make decisions for themselves. That's kind of the way it is with beer. It's the way it is with anything else that we have here. You're an adult. You can make your own decision. And at some point, as legislators, I think that you need to take the risk that you can trust your constituency to make the decisions that are best for them.

I actually appreciate your argument. I just don't agree with you. Fair enough.

All right. There's no more questions or comments. Mr. Clerk, would you call the roll, please?

We haven't had a motion yet.

Oh, I'm sorry. We do have to have a motion. Got a motion?

Mayor, I haven't heard a closing of the public hearing yet. You need to formally close. Maybe I didn't hear it, but we need to close the public hearing.

All right. Then if there's no more comments out here, I will close the public hearing on this motion. here, and now I need a motion.

I'll make a motion that we deny the request.

Got a motion to deny.

I'll second. Got a motion and a second.

Mr. Clerk, call the roll. Yes, sir.

Commissioner Robinson? No. Or yes on the no. Yes to deny.

Yes is to deny. You vote yes. Commissioner Brock? Yes. Cochran? Yes. Beaman? Yes. Fisher?

Yes.

Hickson? No. Daniel?

This is yes to deny, right?

Correct. Yes. Motion to deny passes.

Okay. Mr. Wood?

Yes, sir. Our next two cases go together. They're adjacent properties. this is z26-06-01 shown right here outlined on your screen the next one will be the property immediately to the south the request is to rezone from multi-family residential to neighborhood office commercial this is a small office park it's actually kind of looks like townhouses when you see it from the front noc would allow them to transition back and forth from office uses to multi-family This is, I apologize for that being turned sideways. That is the buildings there. There's a right side up version. Some pictures of the surrounding area. This property does not have the visibility that you get from Turner McCall because it sits behind the convenience store and the pizza place, but it does have some commercial use surrounded by the townhouses or apartments behind it. This does come with a staff recommendation of approval. Thank you. Is there anyone here to speak in favor?

Anyone here opposed? All right, I'll close that part of the public hearing.

Is there any comments?

Oh, I'm sorry. Ma'am, are you here to speak in favor or opposed? In favor? Okay. State your name and address, please.

Susan Elam. I can't really hear.

Name and address.

1700 Dean Avenue, Rome, Georgia, 30161. Okay. I did. Susan Elam, 1700 Dean.

You have ten minutes, ma'am.

We were just asking, really, to continue the businesses that have always got in there close to 30 years. We do, you know, usually it's startup real estate firms, staffing agency, training facilities, insurance office. It's just that we just have to realize that it was not zoned commercial because commercial business is the only thing that's ever been there before. I inherited this from my parents. And they did own the adjacent apartments behind there originally. And they did sell those right before their death. And we're just wanting to continue what's been going on for the last almost 30 years as just a small office park. And it does back up to all the you know, commercial properties all the way around it pretty much. So we're just asking that it just remain what it's always been.

Thank you. Anyone speaking of opposition? All right, I'll close that portion of the public hearing. And anyone down here to my right have any questions?

Anyone to my left? Mr. Clerk, call the roll. I'm going to make a motion.

Well, how about making a motion?

Make a motion that we approve.

Second.

All right, we've got a motion and a second.

Now, just so we're clear, this motion is only on the first file, Z26, 6 and 1. Okay. Okay. Commissioner Robinson?

Yes.

Brock? Yes. Cochran? Yes. Beeman? Yes. Fisher? Yes. Hickson? Yes. Daniel? Yes.

And our next application is Z26-06-02. This is for the adjacent property that fronts on East 8th. The request is still to rezone from multifamily residential to neighborhood office commercial. This does come with a staff recommendation of approval and unanimous approval from the Planning Commission. Thank you.

All right, I will open the public hearing on this property. Is there anyone here to speak in favor? Anyone in opposition? All right, then I'll close that part of the public hearing. And I need a motion. Make a motion to approve.

I'll second.

I'm sorry, I did not hear. Motion to approve. Okay. And so we got a motion and a second. Any discussion down on this end? Down on this end?

I got one little question. Are that two separate ownerships? Okay. So you just have them in different parcels? Right. Right. That's good. Thank you. All right. Anything else?

No.

Commissioner Robinson?

Yes.

Brock? Yes. Cochran?

Yes.

Beaman? Yes. Fisher? Yes. Hickson? Yes. McDaniel? Yes.

All right, Bryce. Our next item for you is Z26-06-05 for the property at 207 1⁄2 North Avenue, shown now on your screen. It's a landlocked property that backs up to the railroad tracks. This lot was created before the adoption of the ULDC. As you can see, we've got a series of homes along North Avenue on the south side. However, for some reason, they've all always been zoned either community commercial or, in this case, light industrial. This property applicants were seeking to renovate and were turned away when they were trying to get building permits. You can somewhat see behind the house here and looking down the road. And this is further down where my staff tried to get a better picture, but. This does come with a staff recommendation of approval and unanimous approval from the Planning Commission. Thank you.

All right, I'll open the public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak in favor? Anyone opposed? All right, I'll close the public hearing. Need a motion. Motion to approve. Got a motion and a second. Any discussion to my right?

I do have a question of Ross. Yes, sir. Ross, do you know what the plan is for that property? Are they going to develop the property?

Their plan is to rehabilitate the existing structure on the property, is my understanding.

I have one question. Didn't they tear down one of the buildings up there?

That was a couple doors down. If we go back up to the map, that was the one that used to say vote for none. Right. That was right here.

Same owner?

No, different owner.

Different owner, okay. Thank you.

If there's no further discussion, Mr. Clerk, call the roll.

Sir, Commissioner Robinson?

Yes.

Brock? Yes. Cochran? Yes. Beaman? Yes. Fisher? Yes. Hickson? Yes. McDaniel? Yes.

Rodney? The next request is Z26-06-06 for 101, 102, and 105 Asbury Drive. They've always been zone office institutional. In this case, the request is to rezone to suburban residential as there are single-family homes on the lots except for the vacant one. There's a zoning map of the area. Property is served by public water but private lift station or septic. This is to allow the properties to be sold. I believe the potential buyer is having trouble getting a mortgage. There he's looking into one of them. You have a new townhouse development just down the road. That looks further down the road. And some of the other homes in the immediate area. This does come with a staff recommendation of approval and unanimous approval from the Planning Commission. Thank you.

All right, I'll open the public hearing. Is there anyone here to speak in favor? Anyone here to speak in opposition? You've got a favor. I know. Anyone to speak in opposition? All right, sir, if you'll step the microphone, name, address, and you'll have 10 minutes.

Tom Sipp, 11 Bluff Mountain Drive, here in Rome. I'm representing the seller. This property, since he's owned this property, this property's been zoned OI, and these three properties are single-family residential properties. And the next parcels that join this are multifamily. So it's pretty much a residential area. We're just asking that the zoning be corrected for the type of use that's up there. And as he has had trouble trying to sell one of the properties because it was nonconforming zoning and the lenders would not approve the loan.

Thank you. No one in opposition? Mr. Sipp, if you will educate me, where's Asbury Drive? Where is this property? Where's Asbury?

Asbury, it's off Redmond Circle.

It's north of Lavender Drive.

Behind where a martial arts thing was out there. Yeah, just north of Lavender.

Okay. Yeah, I got it.

Did these adjoin Mr. Barksdale's property that he's developing? The apartments?

The townhouses, yes.

The townhouses, they adjoin that?

Yes.

The one question I had, you said that these are, the sewer is a lift station?

Yes, I'm going to let these guys explain that better. They had a meeting with John Boyd that I was not present for.

Okay, so is it going to be...

Is that something the city would accept?

I know, but if somebody tried to develop multifamily, they're just going for residential, aren't they?

Yes, this request goes to suburban residential.

Okay.

Well, what I would... mr boyd is involved with conversations it's an unusual situation out there and so i think we're trying to work with the property owner the best we can to figure out a solution so everybody wins but it's a little more complicated than most of the projects we've seen anyone to speak in opposition all right i'll close the public hearing and i will need a motion

Got a motion and a second. Any discussion to my right? Any discussion to my left? Mr. Clerk, please call the roll.

Sir, Commissioner Robinson?

Yes.

Brock? Yes. Cochran?

Yes.

Beaman? Yes. Fisher? Yes. Dixon? Yes. McDaniel?

Yes. The last item we have for you is Z26-06-07. This is for 103 and 104 Asbury Drive. We're still at the end of Asbury. You can also see technology circling over here in the corner. This is a couple of quadruplexes, if I'm not mistaken, that were developed prior to the adoption of the ULDC that are also along this road. These are those townhouses that Wayne was referring to next door. And once again, the purpose of this request is to allow the successful completion of a mortgage or financing. you have the buildings here and as i said this does come with the staff recommendation of approval and unanimous approval from the planning commission thank you is there anyone here i'll open the public hearing is there anyone here to speak in favor

Anyone opposed? Sir, state your name, address, and you have 10 minutes.

Tom Sipp, 11 Bluff Mountain Drive. These two properties are multifamily properties in a residential neighborhood, and we're just trying to get the correct zoning placed on them.

Thank you. There's no one opposed. I will close the public hearing. And I need a motion. Motion to approve.

Second.

Got a motion and a second. Any questions or comments from the people on my right? My left? Mr. Clerk, call the roll, please.

Sir, Commissioner Robinson?

Yes.

Rob? Yes. Cochran?

Yes.

Beaman? Yes. Fisher?

Yes.

Hickson? Yes. Daniel? Yes.

All right, that concludes. Am I right, Bryce? You don't have any more? Well, good. That concludes our public hearings for tonight, and we will move along. Mr. Clerk, have you got anything? No report, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Manager.

Yes, sir. The City of Rome offices will be closed on Friday, July 3rd, in observance of the Independence holiday. Service will be normal for our garbage and recycling routes for Monday and Tuesday. The garbage and recycling for Thursday and Friday will both be serviced Thursday, no yard carts. And a little unusual for Walker Mountain Landfill, we will only be open from 8 a.m. to noon on Friday the 3rd and will be closed the entire day on Saturday, July 4th. And, Mr. Mayor, that concludes my report. Mr. Attorney.

Under my report, I will let you know that the Rome Floyd Development Authority will meet Tuesday, June 23rd, 9 a.m. at the Development Authority Office, 800 Broad Street. And the Rome City Commissioners will be attending the Georgia Municipal Association's 2026 Annual Conference. It will begin on June 25th and run through June 30th in Savannah. And the Water Sewer Committee meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 2nd. has been canceled. Commissioner Robinson.

No report, Mr. Mayor.

Commissioner Brock. Yes, the Downtown Development Authority will meet Thursday, July 9th at 8.30 in the Miller Building. And the July 1st Friday will be held on the second Friday, July 10th at Town Green. So I think next one we'll get back on first Friday schedule. Okay, good.

Commissioner Cochran.

Yes, Mr. Mayor. The Landmark Committee will meet Monday, July 13th at 2.30 p.m. in the Sam King Room, and the Tourism Committee will meet on Wednesday, June 24th at 11.45 at the Civic Center. Thank you. Mr. Bayman.

I don't have a report, Mr. Mayor, but I would like to make a comment, and I say this with all due respect. We just came out of the Juneteenth weekend, and we had the parade, and I was very disappointed that we didn't have the representation. And I understand that everybody has schedules, but I do want to say that we just came out of the MLK weekend last year. We had the same lack of support. And it sends out a strong message when we don't have, when we look up at this body, we represent, but we don't represent when it becomes diversity. So remember when I talked about MLK during the Martin Luther King holiday that And that diversity in our community is important. I'm speaking to everybody who can hear my voice. It's time for us to show up.

Commissioner Fisher. Oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were finished.

I'm finished now.

Commissioner Fisher.

Commissioner Beeman, did you say there wasn't a lot of commissioner support for MLK? I couldn't hear you.

No, I said that we had MLK, and we did not have a lot of support for the MLK. You were there, but I'm talking to all the other commissioners that wasn't present.

I saw several.

I'm not talking about the holiday. I'm talking about all four days of it.

Well, not all four days, but several days of it.

Yeah, I went a couple of days myself.

And then think about Juneteenth, though. Who showed up for that?

I know I was out of town. I played some phone calls and didn't get a call back.

I offered to help and Miss Jackie Jenkins and all them were present at our last commissioner meeting and they gave everybody a form. So it's not hard to complete a form and show up.

Mr. Fisher.

The Public Works Committee will be on Wednesday, July 8 at 10 a.m. At our last Public Works meeting, we talked at length about the South Room Bridge. So I know we'll be talking about that again at the upcoming Public Works meeting.

Mr. Hickson.

Yeah, for those who didn't have an opportunity to make the Juneteenth celebration, they missed two days of wonderful fellowship with the community. It was a beautiful gathering Friday and also the parade Saturday had great participation. Hopefully next year we can make it bigger and better going forward. I don't have any comments for the Alcohol Control nor the Library Board, but the Ron Floyd Planning Committee will meet Thursday, July 2nd, at 2.30 here in the Commission Chambers. Thank you.

Mr. Collins was excused from tonight's meeting, but I will tell you that his community redevelopment, which he chairs this meeting, is scheduled for June 24th, and that meeting has been canceled. Commissioner McDaniel.

Thank you, Mayor. Committee on committees met today somewhere between 4.15 and 4.30, depending on what time you got there. We have several appointments to bring forth. Library Board, Monica Burge is being, we're recommending that she be reappointed for a three-year term. Can I just read all of these? Yes. Joe, is that how you want to do that? Yes. Monica Burge, a three-year term for reappointment. Landmarking Committee, Ann Pullen, and Evie McNeese, three-year, both being reappointed for four-year terms. Historic Preservation, Logan Voss is being reappointed for a three-year term, and we have two new members that we're bringing forth, two new names, Ben Levy and Sarah McElrath. Those would be two new names for three-year terms. Floyd Health Board, Renalfa Houston, and this is going to be replacing Ms. Twyman, who has been on the health board for a little over 20 years. This is an individual that Susie Twyman recommended, and we checked this lady out. She actually filled out an application, and this will be a four-year term. uh... runoff of twyman for the floyd health board we still have one vacancy on three rome redevelopment agency that we're not going to feel at this point in time but the names that i mentioned for those committees will come forth to this board and they will sit for two weeks and we will vote on those uh... at our next meeting in two weeks that's all i have we have uh...

Four people that have asked to make public comments on non-agenda items. First one, Shawna Bailey. Ms. Bailey, state your name and address, and you'll have three minutes.

My name is Shawna Bailey. I live at 2904 Kingston Highway, Rome, Georgia. I want to speak about the way the meeting went last meeting. As a public servant and also someone that is an advocate of the community, I was disappointed in you guys, like literally disappointed. It was like watching, I guess you could say, a bunch of toddlers on a playground. When you didn't hear what you wanted to hear, you shot it down. You didn't let them finish speaking. You didn't acknowledge that you heard anything they said. I mean, we sit out here in this public, and these are the things that we watch. It is so embarrassing. Like, literally, your body movement, your eye contact is not on point. And you just basically treat the community as if it's your own little playground. You didn't let Miss Beamon finish speaking. You hit that hammer, oh my God, so many times, so many ways. It was very embarrassing to watch. And I hate to even bring it up. I really hate to bring it up. But this is what we see every single time. Now, the first time that I've actually seen you guys get along was today in caucus. It was very pleasant. You guys acknowledged one another. You hugged one another. You even looked at each other and gave each other a smile. You made your little jokes. But when you get out here in front of the public, you act like toddlers. And that is not OK. That is not OK. You are a representative of our community, are you not? Every last one of you are. And whatever y'all do, the people look at it, and they tend to do it, right? Just like your children at home, when they see you do something, they mimic what you do. So I challenge you guys to do a little bit better than what you're doing. And I challenge you not to speak to a woman in the demeanor and way you did when you spoke to Elena Bema last week, I mean the last two weeks. You guys were birthed by women. You were birthed by women. I bet you wouldn't want your mother or your wife spoke to in the way you spoke to her. She's a mother. She's a wife. And she's actually your colleague, is she not? So I think that Mayor McDaniel, y'all owe her an apology. A public apology. Because you were wrong. And I need you guys to acknowledge that. Because when I do something wrong, I acknowledge it. Do I not, Brock? I acknowledge it. And I think that it's only right that you guys acknowledge how y'all been treating people up here on your own board. That's all I have to say.

Thank you, Ms. Bailey. Laura Lee Glanton. Ms. Glanton, if you will please state your name, your address.

My name is Laura Lee Glanton. 131 Dodd Boulevard, apartment N8. I'm kind of on the same page as her, but a different part of the book. I myself been going through something in this town for 14 years now. I'm healed from that, but there's some things still going on. I try to go to y'all's police department, talk to y'all's chief, yeah. And for the community, I realized she plumbed and stole it away, counted me mentally ill, didn't investigate it, didn't check it out. I've been having to deal with people coming in and out my home. I literally was sexually assaulted, got it on camera. They won't pull the footage, refusing to pull the footage, refusing to get the footage. And it is disappointing to know and it's disappointing to see. I done made over 200 reports, 200 conversations, Yes, and you can go find that out. I really have. I've talked to them over 200 times, 200 reports. It's a lot of things going on, and the police really don't care. I got it on camera what happened to me and my household, and they won't ask for the footage. So I don't understand. All that other stuff, I let it go. I'm healed from that. All those crimes was committed towards me, That's done. It's over with. I'm past that. But my household is different. And she's not doing anything to... She won't pull the footage from Xfinity to show that I'm telling the truth about what's been going on within my home and whatnot and for her to be a woman. And I told her I was sexually assaulted while this footage was rolling. She didn't care. She didn't pull it. She didn't try to pull it. She counted me mentally ill because of the things I told her happened to me I went through the worst, the most severe smear campaign in this town. Over there. But my household, she can at least do this thing like, pull the footage, check it out. You know, I got evidence right there on the desk full. They ain't even want to look at it. So how do she handle everybody else? And I'm kind of thinking this is why we don't hardly have nothing on the news nowhere, because they're not investigating. They're purposely not investigating. It seems as if they're investigating, but they're not. They've been throwing me out two years now, almost three. I've been making these same reports over and over and over about my living space, that people are violating me, violating things around my living space, doing things that y'all wouldn't like done to y'all. But I don't understand why she's not pulling my evidence. So if she's doing me like that, who else is she doing like that? So people coming in my home, putting stuff in my food. I'm just going to just say I'm a chosen. We go through these types of things. I understand that. I accept that. But I don't like them crossing my boundaries, coming in my household, you know, doing these things to me. And I got evidence of this. So I don't understand why she won't subpoena for the footage.

Thank you, Ms. Glanton.

Thank you.

Christy Minor. Christy, if you will, give us your full name, your address, and you will have three minutes.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, Commissioners. My name is Christy Miner of Somerville Park. This probably should have been on for the agenda items, I didn't realize, but I attended the Floyd County Board of Public Health meeting on June 11th. Though this was at least the fourth of the quarterly meetings that I've attended, it's been difficult to ascertain who actually serves on the board. It's not listed on any website. I did, however, receive a list today after requesting it through the county open records. At the June meeting, Mrs. Twyman, as Commissioner McDaniel reported, announced that after 30 years, she was resigning. Commissioner McDaniel began speaking of his committee on committees and how he would begin seeking a replacement. Mrs. Twyman suggested that she may have a couple of ideas. Since public health was weaponized to strip our freedoms during COVID, I previously studied the structure of the county health boards in Georgia. I know that they are actually instruments of the state created by the legislature and covered under Georgia code title 31 chapter three. The clearest way to verify that County health staff are controlled by the state is that email sent to staff, go to dph.ga.gov, not floydcounty.org, ga.org. I was confused as how the committee on committees would hold jurisdiction over this appointment. Nevertheless, I went to the city of Rome website. While I did not find the public health board listed on a committee as a website, I did find health board on the application. So to refresh my memory, I went to Georgia Code 31-3 and looked at Section 2, where the regulations for board composition were laid out. There are seven members, including the chair of the county commission, the county superintendent of schools, and the chief executive officer of the governing authority of the largest municipality of the county. Apparently, Mayor Bojo has appointed Commissioner McDaniel to serve in his stead. Three of the remaining four board members fall to the governing authority of the county to appoint. The final member falls to the governing authority of the city to appoint, that being a consumer or a licensed nurse. Kim Cowart, District Supervisor of Northwest Georgia District Health Office, did confirm that Mrs. Susie Twyman was the member appointed by the city with her term set to expire December 31st, 2025. In those regulations, they are six-year terms. I know Commissioner McDaniel just mentioned four-year. Given the recent contention surrounding the Committee on Committees and the fact that it is unlikely that people are even aware that the Health Board is a committee, my question was going to be, what will the process be to notify the public that there's an opening on the Floyd County Board of Public Health? This is the first commission meeting since that was announced on the 11th. I guess we just learned that that it's already been decided or that somebody's already been put forth. But my second request is, will the city add the Public Health Board to its list of committees on its website, including a list of all active members and how to contact them should the public have any concerns? Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Minor. Ron Swinford. Mr. Swinford, if you will state your full name and your address. You have three minutes.

Hi, my name's Ron Swinford. I live at 11 Poplar Street, Rome, Georgia. If you'll stick with me a little bit on this, it'll start making a little more sense. Tonight I'm here to tell you about a medical imaging clinic in South Florida that recently got investigated by Medicare. The reason the clinic got investigated was not because of overcharging or fraudulent charges. No, it was the time of the day the charges were being applied. This clinic does outpatient MRIs, CT scans, x-rays, and a few lab tests. And Medicare thought it was weird that most patients were being billed for these procedures between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. These late-night charges started just over two years ago when a hyperscale data center opened two miles from the clinic. When that data clinic went fully online, the clinic started to have major issues with their equipment. After spending over $300,000 to fix these problems, the clinic finally found out what was actually happening. The data center is between the clinic and the power station. And the power station we're talking about is the Turkey Point Nuclear Facility. They produce a lot of power. And that power company could not get them enough power to operate the MRI or CT scanners while people were using their air conditioners. This clinic almost went out of business and now has gone out of business as did an auto body shop next door before changing their hours. That medical facility was two miles from the data center and it also battled occasional electromagnetic interference with those machines. This should concern you since Advent Redmond Medical Center will also be downstream of the Batty Complex once it is fully operational. Redmond's distance from Batty is not measured in miles. It's measured in yards. And perhaps that might become a major issue when the emergency room needs an MRI at 2 p.m. and the power isn't enough to perform it, or the electromagnetic interference is too high to operate the machines correctly. This is not a what-if situation. This is an already happened problem. Due to bad planning, a less than honest power company and well-meaning but clueless on technology local politicians, who instead of looking for potential problems with hyperscale data centers, passed it and then buried their heads in the sand and didn't listen to their constituents who asked them not to do this. And now they just pray down there that their tax revenue shows up like they were promised. This could affect you next. This might... the next thing so what kind of local politicians do you want to be proactive or out of touch for once the choice is completely yours thank you very much thank you mr swinford there's nothing else to come before mr mayor tonight mr mayor yes um i just want you know our citizens to

know that your comments, when you come speak every week, they don't just go into a black hole. We take all of these comments and feedback into consideration. Last week, well, this past yesterday, I was part of the NAACP Stop the Violence rally, and I believe that it starts at the top. And we may have some disagreements, but I think we are the example. We should set the example for our citizens. A lot of time, I forget we're being filmed. We're being streamed. And I think when we engage with one another, we should keep you know, the citizens in mind in doing so. But I just want to let you guys know we do appreciate your comments, and that help keeps us on our toes. Thank you. That's all I have.

Thank you, Commissioner. No other business. We're adjourned.