Mayor and Council - Regular Meeting

I like to bring a posse with me. So the resolution for Bee City USA, the mission of Bee City USA is to galvanize communities, to sustain pollinators responsible for the reproduction of almost 90% of the world's flowering plant species by providing them with healthy habitat, rich in a variety of native plants, and free of nearly all pesticides. So we have more than 3,600 native bee species in the US and more than 500 here in Georgia alone. And pollinator-friendly communities benefit local and regional economies through healthier ecosystems, and supporting pollinators fosters broad-based community engagement, environmental awareness, and sustainability. And Keep Smyrna Beautiful is already actively establishing pollinator gardens in public green spaces, and promoting educational opportunities focused in native plants. So we are looking to have Smyrna be a Bee City USA so that we can host one educational event every year, install and maintain signage for Bee City, as well as have a Bee City webpage, and then also develop and implement a program to create and expand pollinator-friendly habitat on both public and private land here in Smyrna. as well as create and adopt an integrated pest management plan designed to prevent pest problems, reduce pesticide use, and expand the use of non-chemical pest management methods, as well as establish a policy for incorporation in the city's comprehensive plan. So really just to underscore the commitment that Keep Smyrna Beautiful and the City of Smyrna are already doing for our ecosystem and our pollinators.

Y'all don't know it, but usually we would read the resolution word for word, and that thing is so long that she did a really good job of picking out the highlights. If anybody's very interested in all of the verbiage, it'll be available online for you. But I just want to thank you for all you do for the city. Thank you. As a former board member, keep Smyrna beautiful. I appreciate all of the work that you all put into making our community cleaner and more beautiful and all of the things. So thank you very much. Can we get a picture?

Yes, get a picture. Thank you guys so very much, especially knowing that this year is the 100th anniversary of the publishing of Winnie the Pooh. Oh, fun. A famous person who loved honey. So I'm very excited about this being the Bee City and what you guys do.

And I like your shirts. Yes, absolutely.

I got to take that with me because I haven't signed it.

Yeah, you got to sign that one. So y'all come on over here. Thank you all for being here. Thanks for all you do. All right. We only have a couple more items, and we're tabling one of them. So item B, authorization to approve Georgia Power acquiring one permanent easement from the city of Smyrna located at 3515 Macaulay Road for the new proposed underground power service installation that will service the new Tolleson Aquatics Facility and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all related documents. Mr. Jones, any background, please? No, sir. You got it. OK. So I know there's been some issues with the power to the tennis courts. I know all of us have heard some of that. This is supposed to take care of that and service that whole facility. So there shouldn't be any more issues with power out there, and I'm glad about that. Timeline will be very quickly after we approve this. So I will ask for a motion, please, on this item. Move approval by Ms. Hines. Second. Second by Mr. Pickens. All those in favor, please vote. And Mr. Lindley, how do you vote?

I vote for it, please.

And that's approved 6-0. Mr. Cochran, did I need to ask for a vote on item A for that resolution? I mean, it wouldn't hurt. Okay. So we're going to. We're gonna go back to item A, and I'll take a motion on item A as well. I move approval by Mr. Oglesby. Second. Second by Mr. Gould. Everyone please vote. Mr. Lindley.

In the affirmative.

Mr. Lindley has joined us from Antarctica, China, and now Amelia Island. Thank you for your commitment to service, sir. Item C, this is an item to purchase a rescue vehicle for the fire department. We're going to table this. We've tabled it once, and we're getting some more information on it. And the council member who was most concerned about it isn't here, Mr. Welch, and I want to make sure he's here. So we're going to table this to our next meeting, which is August 17th. Can I have a motion to table this to August 17th? So moved by Mr. Pickens. Second. Second by Mr. Gould. Everyone, please vote. Mr. Lindley. Yes. And that's approved 6-0. We'll consider that at the next meeting. And item D, approval for change order to complete additional work for the Tolleson Aquatic Facility project in the amount of $588,926.34 from the 2022 SPLOST for Reeves Young LLC in Sugar Hill. amend the 2022 SPLOST project length budget by the same amount and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all related documents. Mr. Jones, this was explained to us in pre-council that it has to do with ADA requirements. Any other background?

The only thing I would add is it also addresses the paving and the curb and gutter that's currently out there, some landscaping and some low voltage electrical and some security, but predominantly it's the required ADA side compliance.

Any questions, comments from council? All right. May I have a motion to approve item D? So moved. Moved by Mr. Gould, seconded by Mr. Pickens. Everyone please vote. Mr. Lindley.

In the affirmative.

And that's approved 6-0. That is our last item under formal business. Consent agenda just looks like some meeting minutes to approve, Mr. Jones. Yes, sir. There are five items on the agenda.

There are five items on the consent agenda. All are meeting minutes. You have the approval of the July 13th special called Mayor and Council meeting on the millage rate. You have the approval of the July 16th Committee of the Whole minutes. The approval of the July 20th special called Mayor and Council meeting also for the millage rate. That was hearing number two. Approval of the July 20th pre-council meeting minutes and approval of the July 20th Mayor and Council meeting minutes for the millage rate public hearing number three.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. Thank you for wearing a coat tonight. Very distinguished. May I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? So moved by Mr. Pickens, seconded by Ms. Hines. Everyone please vote. Mr. Lindley.

In the affirmative.

And the consent agenda is approved 6-0. We're now to the... citizen participation portion of our meeting. We have three people signed up for public comment this evening. The first one is Chris Nave, 1100 South Marietta Parkway. Welcome.

Hello. Thank you. Five minutes, correct? Three? Oh, okay. So today I'm talking about Flock. So Smyrna is one of the biggest cities I've seen for Flock. They have a $5.7 million contract that's paid out over the next 10 years, starting in 2025 for Flock. 75 plus cameras, those include the normal ALPR license plate reading cameras, as well as the contour tilt PAM and zoom cameras, as well as two drones. The reason I want to talk to that is because of both how bad Flock can be as a company, how bad the people who have access to that surveillance can be, but also constitutionally, that they violate Fourth Amendment or are starting to work that way. Legally, we have U.S. versus Porter that came up a couple years ago. It was about ALPR cameras, and they, within themselves, did not violate any Fourth Amendment as long as they remained intermittent surveillance of locations, which is what every camera does. It intermittently captures a short period of time But the problem is, in U.S. Fish Carpenter, the privacy within a whole of movements is considered privacy under the Fourth Amendment, even if each little movement is in public, such as driving a car to different locations. Each little short burst of camera capturing that little movement is in public, but overall, Where you travel and where you end up is considered private because no one person can figure out every single place you've been. It's called a mosaic. Each little instance builds up a big picture and gets your mosaic of where you traveled. With these cameras and drones, Flock and the police and the cities are able to build that mosaic, and without any warrants to access that information and that data, that becomes a Fourth Amendment violation. As well as that, under U.S. First Carpenter, users do not willingly choose to transmit data when data is auto-collected. This was in terms of phone usage and geofencing. and was reinforced with Chattery versus the United States, but it also applies with driving. When I'm driving, it is in public, but that does not mean that I am willingly consenting to auto collection of my license plate and the data of my car when I drive around the city. So it should still be considered as under USB Carpenter. And in Chattery, It reinforces that with another Supreme Court decision of privacy of your entire movement being under the Fourth Amendment. And it pushes that into the digital information realm. which is what FLOC does. FLOC deals with the digital tracking of persons and their vehicles and creates a mosaic of information that becomes a Fourth Amendment violation. I have to wrap it up. Your time has expired. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you for being here tonight and expressing your concerns. Next, we have Anastasia Pixler, 2642 Park Road Southeast in Smyrna.

Good evening. My name is Anastasia Pixler, and I have lived in Smyrna for three years. Up until recently, I've been a very proud resident, always talking about how great the community is and how fun the events are. Imagine my disappointment and betrayal when I learned that this government has entered into contracts with the immoral company of Flock. Block allows the highest bidder to buy what their cameras collect, from unconstitutional and terroristic ICE raids to here in Georgia, where multiple cops have been caught using the cameras to stalk their exes. You have created a deep distrust between this council and Smartest Citizens. Within a mile of my home alone, 37 cameras are collecting my data. Not only is this an egregious betrayal of my civil liberties, but it is also an illegal act. Federally, the Fourth Amendment states, the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated and no warrant shall be issued but upon probable cause supported by oath or affirmation and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized. More locally, Georgia's ALPR Statute Code 35122 states that law enforcement agencies may collect data and share data with other law enforcement agencies for law enforcement purposes only, and that that data shall be destroyed no later than 30 months after collection. Flock is a private company whose data is consistently used for non-law enforcement purposes, which this council has allowed disregarding the legality or morality of its actions. You have failed at your job of protecting smartest citizens. You have disrespected our constitutional rights and our privacy. The only solution is to cancel the flock contract and remove the cameras. I leave you with this George Orwell quote. In the past, no government had the power to keep its citizens under constant surveillance. Now, private life came to an end. Every citizen could be kept in fear for 24 hours a day under the eyes of the police. Thank you.

I'm going to invite the next citizen here, and then I've got a couple of comments that I'd like to make. Mitchell Young, 2075 Nancy Circle, City Property Maintenance. Welcome. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and Councilmembers. My name is Mitchell Young, I live at 2075 Nancy Circle, and I appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm here because of a concern regarding city-owned property that borders my property. For years, the city regularly maintained this drainage gully. However, about two years ago, I was informed by the public works director and my council representative that the city would no longer maintain it and that the responsibility would essentially fall on me. I respectfully disagree with that decision. This is not my property, it is city property, and it serves a public purpose as part of the city's drainage system. Since maintenance stopped, aggressive invasive plants have spread throughout the gully, and these invasive plants are now encroaching onto my property, creating an ongoing burden that I should not be expected to manage. Furthermore, it was suggested at that meeting that I use chemicals to kill the plant life in the gully. I chose not to do so due to the personal cost and the potential environmental impacts as it does feed into a creek system. Beyond the impact on my yard, I am also concerned about the drainage itself. The purpose of this gully is to move stormwater safely. As vegetation continues to grow unchecked, there is an increased risk that the flow of water could become obstructed. Delaying maintenance today could result in a much larger and more expensive problem in the future if drainage is compromised. I'm not asking the city to do anything extraordinary. I am simply asking that the city resume maintaining its own property as it did for many years. The previous maintenance prevented invasive growth, protected neighboring properties, and helped ensure that the drainage system functioned as intended. I believe this is a reasonable request and one that reflects responsible stewardship of public property. I would appreciate the council reviewing this decision and directing the appropriate department to restore routine maintenance of this drainage gully before the problem becomes worse. Thank you for your time, your service to our community, and your consideration on this matter.

Thank you for being here. I'm familiar with where you are. Mr. Jones, can you please get in touch with Mr. Young and see if there's a solution that we can work with him on? I don't know the particulars of that situation, but we'll figure it out. And I appreciate you being here. Sorry you had to come on an evening away from your family to be here, but we'll figure it out. On the flock cameras, I want everybody, this was a very deep consideration for the city council, right? This was something that we did to keep our residents safe. If you're not doing anything wrong, you don't have anything to worry about. And I've seen the same stories that others have seen where even in Georgia there was a law enforcement, a couple of bad apples law enforcement folks who were using that system for the wrong purposes. We have internal controls in our city where we prevent that from happening. We have our chief's full endorsement of this system. The term that he uses is force multiplier, keeping our citizens safer. I'm not a law enforcement professional, but I can lean on their expertise to help make our community safer. So we made a significant investment. And we're not the first ones. Dunwoody did this, and Dunwoody's been through. So we're not creating a wheel. We're kind of leaning on them to see what they've done to deal with some of the issues on the front end. But it was said that the data is used for non-law enforcement sources or purposes, and that's just not the case. It is kept by our law enforcement. It is not used for non-law enforcement reasons. And so I know there's a lot of chatter out there about FLOC. I am confident in the technology. I am confident that we have made the citizens of Smyrna safer, and I stick by our decision. With that, we will close public comment and move on to ward and staff reports. We'll start tonight with Mr. Glenn Pickens.

Thank you, Mayor. I just wish all the students a good first day of school and hope the year goes well. Thank you.

Ms. Hines.

I echo Councilmember Pickens, and I wish the same for the teachers. I'm sure the parents are happy right now.

Ms. Wilkinson.

No report tonight. Thank you. And I skipped over Mr. Lindley because he's not here. Mr. Lindley. No report this evening. Thank you.

Mr. Gould. Likewise. Hopefully a safe and happy first day of school for many. And I just want to thank the folks from Keep Smyrna Beautiful for all the work that you do. And thanks for leading the charge to be the first city in Cobb to be a B city.

Just another cool thing happening in Smyrna. That's great. Mr. Oglesby.

Yeah, I think it's so cool that we're going to be a... The official Bee City. That's awesome. Thank you for your good work.

That ties in with Georgia Tech in any way, right? Okay, go Dawgs.

Also, I want to congratulate all the students who are starting their new year of school and wishing them a very good school year and all our fall sports. Athletics, we hope that they do as good as the spring did. We had a lot of great spring sports. I want to shift gears. I want to make a comment about the flock, if that's OK. I'm really, really torn on flock. Obviously, I'm a big proponent of privacy and protecting privacy. And I really think everyone up here believes that, too. But flock does do good things. And I'm going to share a personal story that I haven't shared. I'm willing to share it now because we've gotten some progress in my situation. And it was because of flock. So December 23rd, I was coming home, got out of my car and I was robbed, assaulted and left for dead. I've had five surgeries, reconstruction of my ear, And it was flock, flock cameras that helped us identify those assailants, which was at least three. And that happened this past month in July. And it was the flock cameras that confirmed it. So I'm torn. I think if we use it the right way, which is what we do as a city, we'll be fine. If we do it the wrong way, then trust me, this council... We're going to make sure those who violate your privacy, they're going to be held accountable. I'm sure of that. And with that, I yield back. Mr. Mayor.

My goal is to put the safeguards in place, and we already have, that prevent those types of actions, those types of things. So more on that to come. We're getting more and more information every day and putting more and more safeguards in every day. I truly believe we have made our community safer. Your personal story is compelling, and there's a lot of stories like that from our law enforcement professionals. Mr. Jones? Mr. Cochran? Ms. Heather, anything? Where's our early voting going to be in November? I thank that congregation for allowing us to do that again. Ms. Jill? All right, if there's nothing else to be brought before this body, we will say goodnight and adjourn from the Jonquil City at 727.