City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening everyone and welcome to the city of Roswell mayor and city council meeting of Monday, April 13, 2026. I am Mayor Mary Robisho and at this time I would like to introduce my colleagues and council members present. Mayor Prom and Council Member Sarah Bon, Council Member Alan Sal, Council Member Christine Hall, Council Member Jennifer Phillippy, Council Member Erin Brumley, and Council Member Chris Zach. I'll now turn this over to city administrator Randy Knighton to explain how the meeting is run. Mr. Nighton.

Thank you, Mayor Robisho, and welcome everyone. Uh we thank you for joining us this evening. In accordance with section chapter 3.70, the city code, the city council does hold regular public meetings and the purpose of these meetings is to hear directly from our residents um on items that constitute formal decisions by the elected body. And some items uh tonight will um also require public hearings. And so we ask that um you would if you would like to speak on any agenda item that you would fill out a comment card which is located or located at the back of the room um for any item on the agenda tonight. We have our staff here who can provide those items to you and your name will be called in the order in which they are received. We again appreciate your attendance tonight. Uh we encourage you and those in the viewing audience to visit roswwell365.com for a calendar of events and also reach out to our staff if you have any questions or need any information. Uh we do again appreciate you being here and thank you for participating in the Roswell City Council meeting this evening. Mayor Robisho, thank you Mr. Nighton. I'd like not I'm sorry. I would now like to welcome Pastor Phil Ricard from Tapestry Community Church who is joining us this evening to deliver the invocation in a moment of silence. Thank you for the privilege of of being here. Let's let's pray. Father, we thank you for those who guide, govern, and direct the affairs of our community. We thank you for the time and the effort and the sacrifice uh that they bring to this responsibility. Uh I pray tonight for guidance and direction as they make decisions impacting the the citizens of Roswell. I pray that you would give them wisdom and discernment and the capacity

to come together for the good of our community. May Roswell continue to be a city that provides for and protects her citizens from the least to the greatest in a way Lord that pleases you. Tonight and in the days ahead we entrust the business of this council to you. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Thank you. Thank you sir. I would now like to invite Roswell resident Jennifer Donlin to come forward and say the pledge of allegiance.

Surprise people. 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.

Next on the agenda is recognition of the city of Roswell receiving the bicycle friendly community award. It's transport just coming on.

Good evening, mayor and council. My name is Greg Nicholas. I'm the deputy director of the transportation department. Happy to be here tonight. The city of Roswell has once again been recognized as a bicycle friendly community by the league of American bicycle bicyclist, earning a bronze level designation for 2025. The recognition places Roswell among 10 communities in Georgia acknowledges acknowledged for a commitment to improving conditions for people who bike and walk. This marks another milestone in Roswell's long-standing participation in the program. as Roswell was the first municipality in the state of Georgia to earn a bronze award in 2006 and has maintained that status through six renewals. Uh the city's local advocacy group, Bike Roswell, partnered with city staff in preparing the application, and the award reflects the city's ongoing investment in expanding and maintaining multi-use trails and bicycle infrastructure, improving safety through planning and design, supporting alternative transportation and recreation options, and creating a more connected and livable community. Uh Yan and Lisa with Bike Roswell are here tonight to present the award along with Caitlyn Martin and Mark Dana from the Department of Transportation who were instrumental in earning this recognition. I'd like to turn over to Yan um if he'd like to say anything.

I think all of you should come up all of Roswell. and the star of the show, the bike bikes. All right. Thank you, Greg.

We have here uh with me um as well Dennis. He's the vice president of um of Bike Roswell as well as uh William U who is u uh working on the Roswell moves for uh the bike roell organization board members. Altogether we have 15 volunteer board members with Bike Roswell. All right. But yeah, on behalf of Bike Roswell, I'm I'm proud to share that the city of Roswell have been awarded the bronze medal as Greg mentioned and and maintaining the bronze status uh is uh with the League of American Side List is not just steady state. They keep making uh achieving the status uh more difficult year after year. So uh having keeping the bronze status is an achievement for us. Being being bike friendly is more than just an infrastructure. It's about mindset, accessibility and education. It's about creating the city where people feel comfortable on choosing how they move whether they u whether is by bike or by foot or other lightweight transportations. and cycling in the city of Roswell is just not not just traditional uh uh traditional cyclist in Lyras or kids but it's also about the families riding riding to to to uh to the school or kids riding to school or about families riding to Can Street to grab a bite of eating as well. And um people are more and more choosing this kind of transportation method for a lightweight more healthy uh way to get get around in the cities. Um we're seeing this uh as we always like to say that we're fighting a winning battle as a we see this is a big mega trend globally not just in Roswell about about cities turning more into bicycle more bicycle friendly orientation. You can go to cities that

have been established hundreds of years ago that are turning uh more bicycle friendly having kind of more um lightweight traffic orientation that didn't wouldn't exist before. And this is why why this kind of work matters that we're doing together with the city of Roswell. We're making the city of Roswell more attractive as a city for people to come in and and enjoy their quality of life. Um, Roswell has a strong momentum and by continuing this partnership and focusing on both mindset and infrastructure, we can create a more connected and accessible and forwardthinking community. And we're not stopping here. We we have initiatives already uh started by the mayor as well to continue working towards uh towards maintaining and achieving the silver status with the city of Roswell. And with this so handle should bring it up.

We're all coming. Don't move. Come on up. Thank you. I'm not getting on the bus. That's why I wore a skirt. Yeah.

Get next to you so I'm not in front of you. This is a piece of

Mayor, would you like to say a few words. I just want to say thank you and as we said, we're already looking at some ideas and ways ways in which we can meet our silver uh as we keep moving forward. And now I'm going to turn it over to Councilwoman Hall who actually is one of the biker what the bikers those of us we wear dresses so we don't have to get on.

Thank Thank you, Mayor. And and I just want to extend a a great thank you to Bike Roswell and and all of the board members and members and also to our city staff, Caitlyn and Mark, who and and um Greg, who who worked tirelessly to, you know, to make this to make this happen. Um they went to Bike Roswell sponsored their trip to DC last year for the safe streets, the national summit. uh they help us with the safe streets for all uh and participate with that. But all this leads to a uh higher quality of living for everybody in our community to be able to uh commute in other ways other than uh in in a vehicle. And that's that's that's what makes this community great. and also our city's commitment to as we look at infrastructure, uh, look at ways that we can incorporate bike lanes and multi-use paths, you know, where feasible. It's it's hard. We're we're an old city and we have to find creative ways to make this work, but the city's committed to doing that, and I just want to thank my colleagues, the mayor, Mike Roswell, and all the staff for for all the work. Thank you so much. And I was about to say of course before we go within the end of the month as you know Mary mayor Mary Roashau has committed to continue the mayor's ride.

Yes. Which is the Sunday the 26th and preceding that we have Roswell Muse. So we encourage everybody that just wants to be out. This is an opportunity on Canton Street where it'll be closed to traffic from 10 to 4 official events 11 to 3. Um, and it gives everybody an opportunity to experience uh Canton Street in a car-free atmosphere where everybody's free to participate. Correct. Get on a small. Yes. Thank you. Thank you much everybody. Appreciate it. I know y'all cannot ride down the stairs. No, no, no. I know. Thank you.

Thank you guys. drive wobbly like a train of space or something.

Thank you.

I don't think our insurance can cover it. Next on the agenda is uh a reading of a proclamation recognizing Georgia C's week. So, this is a proclamation of the city of Roswell recognizing Georgia C's week from April 20th to 25, 2026, an annual statewide event encouraging our residents to celebrate city government and recognize the important role it plays for all citizens of Georgia. Whereas city government is the closest to most citizens and the one within the the most direct daily impact upon its residents. And whereas city government is administered for and by its citizens and is dependent upon public commitment to an understanding of its many responsibilities. And whereas city government officials and employees share the responsibility to pass along their understanding of public service and their benefits. And whereas the Georgia Municipal Association and its member cities have joined together to teach students and other citizens about municipal government through a variety of different projects and information. And whereas Georgia C's week is an opportunity to recognize the important role played by city government in our lives and spread the word to all citizens of Georgia and Roswell that they can shape and influence this branch of government which is closest to the

people. And therefore, I, Mary Roishau, mayor of the city of Roswell, do hereby proclaim April 20th through 25th, 2026 as Georgia C's Week. So, that is also a very big thank you to all of our wonderful staff members who um work day in day out for the citizens of Roswell. So, thank you very very much. Next is the consent agenda.

So, City Clerk Nancy Long, are there any speakers on the consent agenda?

Yes, Mayor. We have one speaker, Jason Yell. Well, I have on more than one occasion said that the city should put signage at the entrances to this building from Dante's Inferno. Abandon hope all ye who enter. Um, it it seems that uh with this park design, $600,000, it's a lot of money. And two years, how does it take two years to do a grading plan and and throw up a few bathrooms and and a batting cage? Uh, I don't understand the cost. I don't understand the time frame. Uh, I do understand that this is part of the Kurt Wilson agenda and I think it's time for the Kurt Wilson agenda to be tossed in the in the trash. And what I'd like to see you do, somebody make a motion to take this item out of the consent agenda and defer it for further study because it's a lot of money. It's really vague. They don't even have a concept plan. Uh from where I sit, the problems, the biggest problems in this city stem from the bond pro, the bond program. And the bond program has a set of people who have had their fingers on it. And some of them are council people, some of them are staff. And the senior staff that has been doing had their fingers in it the most are the ones that have the Appalachian

uh assistant city administrator or deputy city administrator. These people need to be fired. Their track record is horrendous. It's one failure after another. Most recently, uh, uh, Aaron has brought to light the spray park in Riverside Park, which I said three years ago. I said recently, "Why are you moving to spray park? What a dumb idea." Oh my gosh, it's even dumber than than I thought. It's It's all just part of the environmental assault by incompetent people. Uh, is is is Henry going to be another uh clear-cut and scrape job like Riverside Park? That that is an abomination. And really the the three of you who who who pushed this through before the new mayor and council uh came in, you really should out of your own pockets pay for the difference to make that spray park a recycle park because a recycling system because if you hadn't approved a bad plan, you wouldn't have this problem. And if you had at least deferred it, the new council would have caught it and it wouldn't be an extra because you wouldn't have had the construction let out and and the material and equipment being bought. I I I don't know what it is with that senior staff, but I see it as is it incompetence or is it corruption? And I don't see a lot of middle ground because they keep coming up and they're not giving you options. They're giving you the Kurt Wilson agenda. And uh you cannot fix a problem with broken tools. And these people are broken tools. They have no idea what they're doing. I just go to another

environmental catastrophe. Mimosa Hall. I don't know who thought that detention pond was a good idea because guess what? It's not a detention pond. It's not even a an amenity pond. It is a dry hole. It's not a mud hole anymore because it's been lined with bentonite uh clay, but it'll never fill. It'll never hold water because it doesn't have a creek running through it. It doesn't have a spring in it. And guess what else it doesn't have? It doesn't even have the runoff and the impervious surface of the party tent extravaganza running into it. Who who who looks at these plans and goes, "Oh, that's a great idea." People who don't know what they're doing or people who have an agenda that isn't the same as the people of the city of Roswell. Thank you. Does council have any comments regarding the consent agenda? Council member Bon.

Yeah, I just wanted to respond to the member of the public who gave feedback. I understand the frustration and everybody has an opinion. Um, but at the same time, staff works on behalf of the city. It's the elected officials and I will say one as myself since we did approve those projects. It's, for lack of better word, classless to come up and berate somebody who got into public service to serve the public. I don't think anybody enriches themselves or takes baz and gold coins because they work for a city. So, we are the ones that sit in front of you in this room that take responsibility for that and not the folks who sit over here and work for all of our taxpayers. Thank you. Council member South,

I'd like to make a motion to uh approve the consent agenda. I have a second. All in favor? Unanimous vote. So, all items passed unanimously. Next on the agenda is the city attorney's report. There is none.

No, it was updated, ma'am. There is um that was removed. I'm sorry. No, there are no I'm sorry. I'm sorry. There were none there. That was removed last Thursday.

Thursday it was removed from the Well, there there is none um this week. So, sorry if there was some confusion on the website. We'll verify that. But there was um there is no regular agenda item. So we'll move on to the city attorney's report. So we have a deputy city what's deputy? No Joe Cusack. It changes every night. Um tonight uh we have a approval resolution for the reertification in the Georgia Municipal Association certified city of ethics program. Uh by way of background, the city of Roswell has been certified by GMA uh as a certified city of ethics since the program's inception. Uh and every about every five years or so, uh we apply or the city applies for the reertification into this program. And this corresponds uh coincidentally with the adoption of a new ethics ordinance. Uh and so now is uh the appropriate time to bring this forward for our reertification into the program. Uh this resolution upon adoption will be submitted to GMA for uh the certification at their annual conference uh in Savannah uh during this summer. And so, uh, staff is asking for a recom or staff is recommending approving this resolution so we can apply for our reertification into this, uh, very important, uh, program that certifies, uh, that we, uh, abide as a city government by the the five tenants put forward, which are by GMA, to serve others, not ourselves, to use resources with efficiency and economy, to treat all people fairly, to use the power of our position for the well-being of our constituents, and to create an environment of honesty. openness and integrity. Uh, and I would just say on behalf of the city staff, I know that we abide by these five tenants every day that we come to work and we are proud to do so for this community.

Thank you, city clerk Long. Are there any speakers on this item? There are no speakers.

Does council have any comments or questions regarding this item? I would like to make a a comment in that I also believe that the citizen that the employees of this city do give forth their best every single day. They try. They try very very hard. That's what I've seen in my three months here. Um are we always getting it perfect? No. But we learn and we move forward. So, I would again thank this the employees of the city of Roswell and the ethical behavior you have shown to me in these three months that I've been here. So, thank you again. Do I have a motion? Council member Bon. Motion to approve a resolution for reertification in the Georgia Municipal Association certified city of ethics program.

Do I have a second? Council member Brumley. All in favor, please raise your hands. The item passes unanimously. Would you read the second item on the city attorney's report, please? And the second item tonight I have is an approval of a memorandum of understanding between the city of Roswell and the Roswell Farmers Market. Uh this uh memorandum of understanding comes forward tonight. Uh the the farmers market has entered into this agreement already and it is up for city adoption tonight. What thisouou does and and I I'll backtrack to last year when the farmers market came back to city hall is there was no formal agreement. It was done under a special events permit. U this formal agreement tonight specifies which dates the farmers market's going to operate. There's going to be various um I guess we'll have a more formalized relationship than we had last year, which I I sort of uh take last year is we we were building the plane while while flying it. And that Christina Devtor and her team with the farmers market did a fantastic job of of using city hall and building out a an impressive operation that uh the city can be proud of. um this brings this this uh relationship and agreement forward so that we can have a more formal relationship that the vendors are covered, the city is covered um and that we're protected legally. Uh it also uh part of the the building the plane while flying it last year, we we found out that we would need a facilities person and a um a Roswell police officer present to to just to maintain a presence here. We had a lot of city staff who in on those Saturday mornings were were having to come up on their off days uh up to city hall and and really help get the infrastructure working properly. Um so this has a facilities

person that is going to be present at the farmers market to take care of those needs. Um that person and the police officer will be paid directly from the farmers market by the farmers market. There will be no fee that the city is taking from that. that is just for the facilities person and the police officer uh who will be uh working off duty. Um but that is important because we had a lot of people who who were just getting called on Saturday to come up here and try to figure out these problems. So it it it's a much more formal relationship this year. We we learned from last year and by putting this into effect u I think it's it's going to be a much smoother operation on the city staff side, on the farmers market side and everyone's going to be rowing in the same direction. So, that's what thisou does. It formalizes that relationship. Um, and I'm happy to answer any questions that may be asked on this.

Thank you, city clerk Long. Are there any speakers for this item? There are no speakers. Does council have any comments or questions regarding this item? Council member Hall.

Thank Thank you, Mayor, and uh thank you u Mr. Cusack for pulling this together. I just I just want to thank Christina Devvic Victor and her team um for bringing the market back to city hall last year and also recognize the team prior to uh Chris Christina's group um Sherry and her team who really kept the farmers market going from from it almost from its inception through various iterations of it trying to find a a home a more permanent home. And what's really really exciting is the the groundwork that was laid last year by Christina and her team and the amount of success that the the community has just embraced this. It is if you have not checked it out on a Saturday morning and it starts next Saturday uh the n or this Saturday, I'm sorry, this coming Saturday the 19th um at at 8:00 a.m. from 8 to 12. You've got to check it out. I mean, she's got a awesome lineup of vendors. um and um just various goodies and bakeries and and and lots of um really really wonderful things to check out. So, it's a great great way to see your neighbors, see your four-legged neighbors. Um just so much fun. Um so, please please check it out.

Any other comments? Council. Do I hear a motion? Council member Hall. Motion to approve item number two, approval of the memorandum of understanding between the city of Roswell and the Roswell Farmers Market. Thank you. Do I have a second? Council member cells. Second. All those in favor, please raise your hand. This item passes unanimously. City attorney, please read the last item on the city attorney's report.

Thank you, mayor. I just have a recommendation to go into closure at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 27th, 2026 to discuss personnel litigation and or real estate. Do I hear a motion? Council member Bon. Do I have a second? Council member Brumley. All those in favor, please raise your hand. This item passes unanimously. Being that there are no other items, this mayor and council meeting of Monday, April 13, 2026 is adjourned.