City Council - Regular Meeting

like to call to order the may 21st 2026 meeting of mayor and council i'm going to call on councilman tim carroll to lead us in prayer please remain standing for the pledge let us pray Heavenly Father, we come to you tonight and just want to thank you for all the blessings you continue to provide to this city of ours and its citizens. We ask that you continue to place your healing hand on those that need you and continue to put your protective hand over all of our first responders. We want to continue to ask you for your guidance as we continue to do the people's business. We ask this in your son's name, amen. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States

We're going to begin tonight with consideration of an ordinance granting a conditional use permit. This is a public hearing item. It's for a freestanding warehouse building in the Highway Commercial CH Zoning District, requested by Hedgecock Investments, Matt Martin. Our planning and zoning guru will present.

Hi, Matt. Hello, good evening. As you know, this is a table item from two weeks ago. We're not going to all the detail. We covered it in a lot of discussion two weeks ago, but just to give you a recap, hopefully the technology will keep up with me here. This is .4 acres, located at 421 Coward Avenue, currently zoned CH. The request is to develop this vacant property as a warehouse building, and a standalone freestanding warehouse in CH requires conditional use approval. So in your packet, there's a series of maps, including the zoning pattern, and you see CH zoning is all around subject property. Character area, there we go. is community activity center aerial image from a couple years ago shows the trees on the property i think our technology is failing us miss theresa um so you see the rooftops this is actually from 2007 imagery it's a little higher resolution easier to see at least shows the buildings more accurately just not the side across the street so the next slide we get into photographs of the property i have updated this a little bit from two weeks ago with some photos we took yesterday so the subject property is what it immediately to the south is this office building this is the north side of it which is the back side and then looking southward down coward avenue The subject property is immediately to your right and behind. And then you see some of the applicant's other property there on the left, which is across. We have several photos of this. It's mostly outdoor storage, portable building displays, but there's several pictures here we can run through. And many of these were taken yesterday, so it's a little more up-to-date. But you see it's a variety of things that are being stored outdoors. Applicant touched on some of that two weeks ago and can give you perhaps an update this evening. This is the view from Janet Street, a little bit south and around the corner. And then I think the next ones show the view from Bemis Road. This is the portable building part of that business that is visible from Bemis. So it's the other side of the applicant's property. So here we have portable buildings. The west side of that property is different. but continuing through the photos and keep going and then this is back to the subject property there on the left this is looking due north and straight ahead as we go to the next picture it's looking into the nursing home property it's there to the northeast of the subject and then the next photo is the property directly across street which is an empty house it's there and then the next one is the professional office building that is immediately west of the subject property Continuing on, also in your packet is a copy of the proposed site plan, showing the proposed warehouse building, which is a little bit more than 4,000 square feet. I think five parking spaces are proposed with the driveway coming off of Coward. This site plan is oriented sideways, so north is to your left, straight up is eastward toward the Bemis Road corridor. And in the next slide, we get into the proposed elevations. It's a simple, industrial design building many times we see metal siding on this but the applicant is proposing wood siding I think on two of the sides is to make it look a little different and then we have the other elevations And then the last one, I think, is the 3D rendering, to give you an idea of the total building. Planning Commission reviewed this at their public hearing back in April. They found the request consistent with the comprehensive plan, consistent with the conditional use review criteria. Those criteria are outlined there in your packet. And the recommending approval is subject to nine conditions that are there in your packet. And we went over those at the hearing two weeks ago.

applicant representatives are here um other folks from representing surrounding property owners are here and i'll be glad to answer any questions you may have council any questions for matt matt thank you okay again this is a public hearing item if there's anybody that would like to speak in favor or in um denial they'll each have 10 minutes per side With that being said, is there anybody that wants to come forward and speak in favor of this request at this time?

Good evening. David Frazier, 2122 Bemis Road. As stated at the last meeting, I am employed by Powerhouse Outdoor Equipment and am here in support of this project. To just reiterate what we went over in the last meeting and what's in your packet, we want to build this warehouse for storage of inventory for new machines that we get in, obviously off the semi-trucks. We have to have somewhere to put them. the crates and the wrappers that they come in are not weatherproof so we need some place to put them inside that's also out of you know normal eyesight because it's unsightly from our from our retail location so we're looking to to be able to find a good place to be able to put these machines where they're out of the weather where they're going to stay in good condition and where we can clean up our property where it looks a lot nicer what it currently does we're trying to clean the place up a couple questions that I knew that we had been asked since the last meeting that we've been personally asked is one are you looking to build this warehouse to get new inventory and put in there without cleaning up the property and that's not what we want to do we don't want to add more stuff to the mess and put in this building we want to clean up what we have and put in this building you know all of the the crated machines and four-wheelers lawn mowers that kind of stuff and the other question was why not build this warehouse on any of the other properties where we wouldn't necessarily need a conditional use permit have to jump through all the hoops to do this and we have more room could build a bigger building all that kind of stuff and the answer that is that long term in the future you know hopefully sooner rather than later we would love to be able to build a new store on these bigger properties specifically the The lot that Mr. Matt just showed with the portable buildings, that 1.85 acres, I believe it is, is where we would love to be able to, we fully intend to be able to build a new retail store there because we do need more retail space. And we are looking at this warehouse being the first step into being able to do that, to adequately expand our storage. so that we can have the room across the street to be able to build a new store with obviously more storage so that we can ideally have minimal loose stuff laying around to be able to obviously have more showroom space. We just built a new 20,000 square foot, some odd store in Tifton, had our grand opening there a couple weeks ago. So we're expanding as a company. Our Valdosta location is kind of our last store that needs expanding. We've met our capacity. So the reason we're not wanting to put this warehouse there on that lot is because we really need to save that space for future projects of a new store. I believe that was even mentioned in your packets here the updated package I've got for this meeting about having room across there for a new storm for more storage and we do and that is why we want to save that space with with not putting that warehouse there but putting it on the the Cowart Avenue lot so that we can have some more space for for a new store but I'm also here to answer any other questions you may have council any questions for the applicant no thank you yes sir

Is there anybody else that would like to speak in favor of this request at this time? Seeing none, is there anybody that would like to speak in opposition to this request? Again, 10 minutes per side. Thank you.

I'm Bill Broadfoot. We were here two weeks ago, and I appreciate your consideration of the materials that we've submitted. including in Planning Director's packet most recently. The reason a warehouse such as the one proposed should not be allowed on Coward Avenue is that this is a freestanding warehouse that is industrial. It's industrial in design and in use and belongs in an industrial area. It has a footprint and an appearance that makes it unsightly and the use would be inconsistent with those of the surrounding properties. Cowart Avenue emanates within the hospital campus, and it ends with one of Pruitt Health's four facilities in the area, one of which has a Cowart Avenue address, and then at the top of Cowart Avenue is either Crestwood or Holly Hill. One of those two nursing homes, but they have three nursing homes in the area. But because of the proximity to South Georgia Medical Center, the existing businesses on Coward Avenue, as well as many nearby, are primarily medical and medical-related businesses that are properties intended for future use within the realm of medical and ancillary medical, such as, that would be an example of a drugstore, for instance, or a therapist. If construction is allowed, it will devalue all the rest of the properties on Coward Avenue. It will discourage potential future use by those seeking to be near the hospital and cause movement among the existing owners. By now, you all understand that 100% of the other property owners on Coward along with neighboring medical use facilities that will be effective have voiced strong opposition to the construction of the warehouse and they are relying on you to protect them from industrial encroachment and relying on you to maintain the master plan for the area as stated by the planning staff for the city of valdosta With those statements in mind, as well as the previous submissions, we respectfully request that the permit be denied. And if you have any questions of me, please let me know.

Council, any questions for Mr. Broadfoot? Thank you.

Thank you.

Is there anybody else who would like to come forward and speak in opposition to this request? Seeing none, Council, it's yours for action.

Mayor, I'd like to make a motion that we approve the request as stated.

I have a motion. Second. I have a motion and a second. Any further comments?

With all nine conditions.

Thank you. Motion and a second. Any further comments? All in favor, show of hands. In opposition, same sign. Motion carries. Council, thank you. Applicant, thank you. We now move on to item number three, ordinances and resolutions. Item A, consideration of a request from the Valdosta-Lounds County Airport Authority to approve a resolution authorizing acceptance of a grant, free money. Colonel Tim Hood, our executive director at the airport, to present. Colonel?

Here again, thank you, counsel, good evening. This is a federal grant requesting the approval of, for the first phase, which is the analysis phase of a drainage project we've got going on, or will have going on at the airport. um projects cost can be up to 83 330 of which the federal grant is going to be up to 79 163 federal funds or airport authority funds will be taking care of it there will be no valdosta funds requested take any questions council any questions colonel you turn that one around quick very quick thank you i'll be ready with the paper good no questions council it's yours for action

second motion in a second all in favor show of hands council thank you colonel thank you thank you spend it well our new uh aviation control tower out there is fully operational has been for the last couple of weeks A few more improvements to come, but it's fully operational and calling all 3,000 plus planes down and up every single month. Thank you, Colonel. Move on to item four, bids, contracts, agreements, and expenditures. Item A, consideration of bids for the annual auto and equipment filters contract. For the City of Valdosta, John Burton, our motor pool superintendent, to present. John, how you doing? Pretty good, good evening.

This contract is for a single source supply for oil, air, fuel, and other necessary filters that are installed on the city automotive and equipment fleet for proper maintenance and operation. This contract is for one year with options to renew. Sealed bids were received on April 14th this year, and I recommend that council approve the low bid meeting specifications by Performance Napa in the amount of $88,953.42. Council, any questions on this contract?

None. Council, it's yours for action.

Mayor, I make a motion we approve the bid as stated. Second.

Motion and a second. All in favor, show of hands. Council, thank you. John, thank you. Item B, consideration of bids for the annual oils and lubrications contract. John, again.

Oils and lubricants are used throughout the city in the automotive and equipment fleet. This bidding includes the necessary items for the fleet to be maintained on a regular basis and operate as efficiently as possible. This is a one-year contract with options to renew. Sealed bids were received on April 14th this year. I recommend that council approve low bid meeting specifications by Akins Petroleum in the amount of $50,426.47. Council, any questions on this one?

None. Council, yours for action.

Mayor, I make a motion we approve the low bid.

Second.

Motion and a second. All in favor, show of hands. Council, thank you. John, item C, consideration of bids for the annual retread truck tire contract.

The City of Valdosta Central Warehouse stocks several retread tire sizes for our large fleet trucks. The successful bidder will supply these tires on an as-needed basis for a fixed price for the contract period. This is a one-year contract with options to renew. Sealed bids were received on April 14th this year, and I recommend that Council approve the low bid of Southern Tire Mart in the amount of $69,700. Any questions on this contract?

Council, yours for action.

Mayor, I'd like to make the motion to approve the low bid as requested.

Second. Motion to second. All in favor, show of hands. Thank you, John, thank you. Thank you. Good job. Item D, consideration of bids for the Voloton Park Improvement Project. Ben O'Dowd, our city engineer, he made it.

Proud father of a graduate.

Congratulations.

From kindergarten? From high school?

Not yet, but it'll be here before I know it, I'm sure. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Good evening. So the bids for Volusen Park that you have in front of you, or that are being passed out now, were submitted as an agenda item in the same fashion that we did for Scott Park. So we submitted a placeholder agenda. We opened bids today at 2 p.m. And then I wanted to distribute this information to you all. And same as last time, Teresa, I'm going to read verbatim just so that it's appropriately recorded in the minutes. Bolton Park upgrades include constructing a new skate park, rebuilding dugouts and fencing at the existing ball fields, resurfacing the existing parking lots, and in addition to the children's playground on the property. The ARPA grant amount received totals $1,665,400 and does not require city matching funds. bids were posted on the city website and on the georgia procurement website in accordance with state law and city policies nine firms attended the pre-bid meeting on april 21st 2026 bids were received and opened at 2 pm on may 21st 2026. due to the time limitations of the grant this agenda item was submitted as a placeholder given that bids will be open following the city agenda submittal deadline Four bids were received this afternoon and the bid opening results are attached. The low responsive bid was submitted by Artesian Contracting Company Incorporated in the amount of $1,561,709.78. This amount includes the base bid as well as the alternative bid items for complete dugout reconstruction. The city is acquiring playground equipment and installation through a cooperative procurement process from VLPRA's preferred vendor, GameTime. GameTime's competitive quote under that cooperative procurement master agreement is $78,503.73. This quotation is also attached for your information. The total low bid plus quote equals $1,640,213.51. Staff is recommending the council award the low bid and the competitive quote amounts to Artesian Contracting Company and to Game Time, respectively, with a combined 10% contingency for unknown field conditions. The total project funding would therefore be $1,804,234.86. Grant funding available provides $1,665,400. Staff, in anticipation of there being overages associated with this project in excess of the available grant funding, has earmarked PLOS eight available parks funds to supplement the available project budget in order to make the complete package and delivery at Voloton Park. The total SPLOST 8 park funding that will be used or that's recommended for use to achieve the complete project delivery is $138,834.86. Staff is recommending, again, just the complete project funding amount of $1,804,234.86 along the funding splits as described within the agenda item. Any questions? Council, any questions for Ben?

I don't have any questions. I like your presentation, sir. Great presentation. But what I'm asking of you is that we can put some safety out there because a lot of drug activities go on at Voloton Park and there's a lot of traffic going all the way through Voloton Park over to Park Avenue. Is there any kind of way we could put some kind of gate to eliminate the traffic going late at night drug activities go on, and the citizens who live in that area are complaining. They do see it. They do call in, but by the time the police officers get there, the transaction is done and gone. Yes, ma'am. Because we've done this, we did this, Sandra and my, White Councilman Tooley, we did this for Violent Park recently, about what, two or three years ago? We did the improvement of Violent Park.

Let me. Yeah, there was some mulching of the understory canopy that was performed two or three years ago at Volaton, yeah.

Okay. we're interested in addressing those public safety concerns. And we think we have an idea of where some other monies are that are because they're beyond the grant scope, the, um, and the police chiefs preparing some recommendations for me, but be glad to include those. And, um, but I think you bring up an important point and we'd be glad to address that. And I think we found a source of funds.

Awesome.

I would like to add since, um, Ms. Cody brought this up, is on park, whose barricades are those? Ours. They're being moved by citizens. Can we put concrete ones on there?

We can, yeah.

I've got... Because they're moving the ones that are there now, and they're just pushing them to the side or whatever, and they're still just owning that driveway.

Yeah, we can place some Jersey barricades there to prevent entry there, the concrete Jersey barricades, yeah.

Yeah, that'd be great. I mean, I know what we're trying to do, but it's not going to help. I mean, anyhow, you just need some concrete ones. That way, if they run into it, they ain't going nowhere, really. Okay. All right.

absolutely i just have one question i was looking at the contingency fee and um that's for the total amount i was just wondering if the um with game time if they had needed a certain portion of the contingency fee we don't have like 10 of their 78 000 versus just 10 of that full amount of 164 000 so we would just take a portion of that

Yes, ma'am if that we did have any contingency needs for the project that are that arose than we would pull it from the project contingency the approved project contingency whether it would be you know contingency expenses related to the game time purchase or contingency expenses related to parking lot resurfacing, dugout reconstruction, skate park construction, there's any multitude of sources for contingent use of funds. Yes, ma'am, the global contingency would be used to address any additional needs related to the game time equipment installation.

the reason I was just asking I was just looking at that and you know game time could potentially act for a certain need about 64,000 I'm just looking at that and I was just wondering if it shouldn't be 10% of their amount that they are yes ma'am so the 10% includes I know their amount

okay but we technically have a 10% contingency of the game time so we tally the total base bid for artesian as well as the total base bid for game time and then we developed our 10% contingency using that total volume do you follow what I was saying about what game time I asked for they might have a need for at least maybe a maybe a hundred thousand of that you see what I'm saying Yeah, again that the total scope if game time has need of a $100,000 of contingency on the $78,000 playground equipment installation that would be astonished. But I'm happy to. The supplement you know, are you asking me 10% contingency on in times funding would be $7800.

I was just wondering how we would know decide on the contingency fee if they needed it but it's fine I would just ask a little question yes ma'am and I think if you look down there miss miss Teresa can you well you're not seeing this sheet of paper but miss Tully if you look at where it says options and number one The last sentence there, it says the total approved combined contract amount plus the contingency is $1.8 million change there. I think that's where they've taken into consideration your concern on that.

Yes, staff is comfortable with $165,000-odd contingency on this project.

That wasn't the question, but that's fine.

Yes, ma'am.

essentially game time game time each respective bidder has uh access to ten percent of their bid and they don't have access to the global contingency so game time could not come in and get the entire 160 000. so contingency funds are generally used to fund approved change orders those change orders are approved administratively by staff

the staff discretion as those needs arise during the project. And so the contingency is just available funds. They're not freely available funds that game time has ready access to. They're available funds for staff to utilize in case unknown field conditions arrive which necessitate the use of additional funds.

So you were just concerned, I think what Ms. Tully is concerned about is that 10% of 78,000 is 7,800. And what she's concerned about is they're gonna come in and ask for 12,000.

And if they ask for 12,000, we'll deduct that 12,000 from the 165,000 that's available.

Okay.

I was just saying, potentially looking at something, that's fine, but they could ask for $100,000 extra, right?

They could submit a change order for $100,000, but I would be, again, I don't know. That's what I was just saying. Sometimes you need to be specific. So the way that those contingency funds work, it's not just, they don't just get it. It's not money that they can grab or obtain freely. They have to request a change order, a change to the scope, and then that change of scope is approved by city staff, and then the use of those funds in city staff. I got you. Yes, ma'am.

Thomas. Yeah, this is my first time hearing about Game Time. What other projects have they done in Bad Austin?

My understanding is that they are one of the premier playground equipment manufacturers and installers, and they are the preferred manufacturer and installer for our Parks and Rec Authority. And so my understanding is that all of the new playground equipment that DLPRA is installing is Game Time. So one good recent example is Olympic Park. down by the railroad tracks by the Department of Labor and DPH building downtown. That playground equipment is game time. Game time playground equipment has been installed or going to be installed in Scott Park as well.

I will say, Thomas, that when we built Freedom Park out there, and Miracle League put in the structure out there for the playground, game time was our number two, but we wound up going with landscape structures because they were more in line with ADA compatibility. But game time was one of our top. So they've been around for a while.

But also I'd like to reassure the council that it's bought off of a national contract and the prices are fixed per item. So there's not expected to be any change orders and those types of things. They're just buying the equipment and it's already bought off of the national price list that they buy through a cooperative purchasing agreement that's nationwide and it's been bid off that way. So we expect it to be at the same price that tabulated.

Correct the playground equipment is competitively procured.

one quick question is design done on this and they can go right to build we've been waiting a while for this yes sir yeah we've been working on design for the past 18 months awesome i'm in favor you did i thank you for what you're doing i really appreciate it i just want to get with sir craze in that um on the safety matter of it you say you're going to get with us later on yes ma'am because uh chief chief and i'll be back and talk about right

what y'all specific thoughts are. She's developing a plan and recommendation that we've talked about previously, but I'd like to include your ideas.

Because we do have a lot of homeless people sleep out there at night.

And we have, we think we've identified a source of funds.

Thank you, sir.

To begin with a conversation I had with Nick.

Yes, sir.

Any other questions for Ben? Got them, I'll take them. Ben, thank you. Last chance. You're awesome, thank you. Council, it's yours for action.

I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, I make a request to approve this presentation presented by Mr. Bean.

I second. Including 10% condition.

Including 10%, I'm sorry, sir.

In a second.

Second.

All in favor, show of hands. Council, thank you. Ben, thank you. Staff, thank you. Move on to item five, consideration of request to approve payment for emergency repairs to a collapsed sewer main at US Highway 84 in Knights Creek. Jason Barnes made it. How was leadership lounge today?

It was great. Long day, but it was good. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Good evening. In July of 2024, the existing 21-inch sewer main had collapsed on US Highway 84 in Knights Creek. uh deterioration of the existing delta iron pipe created voids under the asphalt at that time in july 24 the voids were not identifiable at that time so in january of 2026 the georgia department of transportation uh contacted the city of idaho's utilities department regarding the road failure around the existing 21 inch delta iron sewer main the utility department gave authorization rpi to perform the necessary repairs at the existing road crossing on u.s highway 84. GDOT did contact me as well, contacted RPI because they just was down on that work, so we had to get this done due to their request. If you see the breakdown of the proposal, just the labor cost was $48,750. The materials, which is the rock, the concrete, asphalt was $41,265. The pressure grout was $231,491 and the thermostripping was $7,250. Traffic control third party was $48,052 and asphalt patching was $4,500 for a total of $381,308. So I'm just going to give you on the pressure grout. Just a little bit of a visualization of basically what that is. That was a total of about 40,000 cubic feet of grout. So about plus or minus $5.75 per cubic foot of that. And it was a foam. So 40,000 cubic feet of foam would basically fill the entire city council chambers. at a 1200 PSI rating. So that's how much foam. And when it says to refusal, basically means they put it in there because the road sunk in so far to lift that road back up until it wouldn't take anymore. So I just want to kind of give you a visual of how much foam it took for that to get this road back where it needs to be. So just wanted to give you that visual there. And the price was, like I said, was $5.75 per that, which was the plus or minus, which is around the $231,000 for that pressure grout. So staff recommends approving the payment to RPI in the amount of $381,308. I'll be glad to answer any questions.

council any questions for jason yes just one little question but how long did it take for them to do that project as far as the you know to go in there and put that form under there so it's a puff up and what was that about probably three months huh yeah at least a week maybe a little over a week a little over a week okay so thanks

Any other questions for Jason? Jason, thank you. Council, yours for action.

Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to approve the request as presented. Second.

Motion and a second. All in favor, show of hands. Council, thank you. Jason, thank you. Item B, consideration of a request to approve a proposal for an upgrade to the human machine interface at the Mud Creek Water Pollution Control Plant.

Yes, sir. So in quality, Council was kind of laughing. What is a human machine interface? So the stationary filters at Mud Creek Water Pollution Control Plant have been in service since 2008. There were some upgrades made in 2015. The human-machine interface serves as the control module for the two filters which remove suspended solids from the wastewater. Proper operation helps prevent the damage and unnecessary wear and tear. This reduces maintenance needs and potential issues throughout the system. The HMI screen and use at the Mud Creek water pollution control plant have come to the end of their life and upgrading this will basically just help current and future treatment processes. And just to give you a little bit of facts, this part of the process is about the third step in the process of cleaning up the wastewater. So this is a very important item. In accordance with the requirements that are established by Georgia EPD and so remove a higher quality of material that would interfere with the downstream treatment processes and the removal rates would increase by 25% over the current screen system in place at this time mystery. So would you scroll to that. picture to give them of you're going to be all shots like that's all it is basically that's all it is so it's Alan Bradley product but that basically module control module control of taking care of removing the suspended solids from the wastewater so it's a human machine interface so. But staff recommends to approve the sole source of the new HMI screen to Mud Creek Water Pollution Control Plant submitted by Aqua Aerobics in the amount of $58,514. I'll be glad to answer any questions.

Questions, council? None. Jason, thank you.

Thank you. Council, yours for action.

They don't make an iPad.

It's proprietary, it sounds like.

May I like to make a motion to approve the request as presented?

Second. Motion and a second. All in favor, show of hands. Council, thank you. Jason, thank you. now move on to the citizens to be heard portion of the evening where you can come forward and state your name and address so that we may have it for the record our policy requires you stay under three minutes so that others have time to be heard please direct all comments to council as a whole do not attempt to engage individual members of council in debate it is our policy to follow through with you almost immediately Additionally, we ask any groups that want to address Council to also designate a spokesperson to represent the group, again, to ensure that all have time to be heard. With that being said, are there any citizens wishing to be heard this evening? Please come forward. Good evening.

Hi, my name is Craig Hawkins. I am the vice chair of the PAC, the Public Arts Advisory Council. And I just wanted I couldn't get on quick enough onto the agenda for this meeting, but I want to informally just give you a quick update that we have finished recently this this past quarter or since January, we finished the the CIS mural, the Imagination Station mural, just a little north of here in Ashley. It's a wonderful, beautiful mural. And we've also just accomplished, I think there was a charge that was given to us a while back for the the Habitat Restore mural, the Jimmy Carter mural. We just recently finished that as part of a mural class that we held at Valdosta State University, and the students were able to partake in providing that. And we have another mural that should be installed on North Patterson probably at the beginning of August. So anyway, we're just making progress. Just wanted to express our thanks for your support. and that's really it oh and i didn't i'm sorry i didn't state my uh address uh five two three zero make home avenue uh hey hi that's all thank you very much are there any other citizens wishing to be heard at this time good afternoon good afternoon

My name is Curtis Lowe. I live for 203 Chester Street, off of Sapper Street. When the storm came, they shut down one of the bridges. We didn't have a way to get back and forth to our home. We had to hit 84 to get in our neighborhood. Now they come over here, they put in a new gas line, and they dug up the road. We traveled back and forth. People were driving on the other side. Oh, the road is so bad. We had a meeting to find out what it was going to take to get it fixed.

that's the only question we'll have somebody approach you right after the meeting that uh we'll get you an answer for that a timeline for that okay yes sir thank you very much yeah thank you i love the shirt thank you sir yeah are there any any other citizens wishing to be heard at this time come forward

Good afternoon. My name is Shanteria Everett. I reside at 5259 Anchor Point Drive here in Valdosta. I just wanted to take a moment of your time. This past Sunday, there was an incident of a shooting at Barber Park. And my son and some of his friends were playing basketball. And they are completely traumatized. Never been in a situation like that before. Yeah. I really don't know what to say to them. They don't even wanna go out in the community. Both of them are just freshmen in college, just came home last week from college, just all got together to play basketball and they don't feel safe in the community. So I was wondering, was there any way to get more policing in some of these parks or cameras or something like that? So not only kids, but anybody should be able to feel safe going in anywhere in Valdosta. I just think that... teens and children just need maybe more programs for something to do. You know, it's school is out, you know, now, and I'm just afraid it's going to get worse. And just was just wondering, like, maybe if The city can come up with something where the parents and just community leaders and citizens will feel comfortable enough to if they see something to have a form of relationship with the police where they feel comfortable enough to, you know, tell them because people see stuff all the time, but people are afraid, you know, thinking that they may get some type of retaliation. And that's that's no place. or nobody should be able to be in fear of that so i just want to know if there was some way we can get some cameras um and more policing in these parks and stuff like that because it's very unsettling to me as a parent and you know especially to you know them they've never been through nothing like that so yeah thank you we'll have a few people approach you right after the meeting if you don't mind hanging around thank you are there any other citizens wishing to be heard at this time hi citizen

Just in case you don't know who I am, my name is Kelly Saxon, and I'm at 8 Baldwin Place. And I just want to take a moment to discuss two things, and I can't give all of the background on this because of the timing, but I do want to thank the city for listening to citizens, listening to me come up here asking for bringing the Craig Center back on board. I found notes all the way back from 2021 when the talks were tearing the Craig Center down. and that has not happened because of you all have taken on this building to use it as an inclement weather shelter it means a lot to really step up like you always do but step up and listen to the citizens and not only just listen but make it happen so i'm very grateful for that so thank you all for that Second, I want to personally thank the city as well and all of the partners who made this happen. But back in March of 2025, I applied through my organization for a grant for UGA Senior Capstone. And what this grant did was it would allow us to get in-kind services of about $30,000 for the city of Valdosta. and this could have been a yay or nay, but being our city engineer, worked through it with all the changes and everything and with the approval of the city and the new oncoming administration, we just got the final document maybe two weeks ago, and UGA has done this for Chadwick subdivision. So there is a plan for Chadwick subdivision that could possibly be bid out and ready to go so if it was not for ben and his patients meeting with the students meeting with dr santiago who was the engineering professor and the lead on this this would not have happened because it could have stopped right there with ben so i'm just so thankful for that and i know we're not supposed to do it but you know me so can we just give ben a thank you everybody Ben takes a lot, but Ben does a lot that's behind the scenes, and he's working with our Longleaf community, so I'm just thankful. Thank you.

Thank you, Kelly. Are there any other citizens wishing to be heard at this time? I think we're about to get an invitation.

I'm sorry I was late. This is Samantha. I'm Samantha Matthews, 4069 Conway Circle. thank you so much city council mayor city manager and the council members i'm so glad to say that we are opening we have a grand opening on saturday for the children's imagination station so if you would join us at 9 30 we're going to do our ribbon cutting and thank you for letting us use your scissors i'm just so thankful we're just overjoyed if you have not been through it i know that we had the pleasure of bringing you through there and it was um really i can't forget andy climbing up those um trees but It was a good time. We have this wonderful facility for our community and we are so glad to open it up. We will have scholarships available too. We have camps throughout this summer that are unbelievable. You cannot even believe that you are in Valdosta. So please go to our website at vanossastudy.com. I mean, I'm sorry, wow, I'm there again. At turnercenter.org and click on Imagination Station and find out all the different opportunities you can share with the people that you and with kids that need to get out there and just create. We know that arts impacts every one of us. It makes our lives better, it makes our communities better, and I just can't wait to see what it's gonna do for our youth. If you haven't seen it, let me know, and if there's anybody in the audience who wants to talk to me about some scholarships, Jen, stop me on the way out, because I cannot wait to share this with the world. All right, thank you so much.

Thank you, Samantha.

And thank you for your support of the Public Art Advisory Committee because that mural is provided by you, so thank you so very much.

You're very welcome. Are there any other citizens wishing to be heard at this time?

Good evening. Hey, good evening. My name is Dr. Keon N. Barrett, and I'm a resident on Ponderosa Drive. I wanted to talk a little bit about, well, first off, I wanna thank this great body for all the work that you're doing in our community. You're to be applauded for all the great work that you're doing. I know there's a lot of things that people talk about in terms of the issues in this city, but not many people are talking about solutions. So me and some of my colleagues wanted to stand before you today with a potential option that we wanted to pitch to you guys, and we have some copies that you can review afterward. Youth crime has been an ongoing conversation and safety within our communities, but we've come up with an innovative solution that we want to pitch to you guys. especially for children who are, or students, excuse me, who are about, I would say 12 to 17 years old. Just some research as it pertains to it, youth with untreated behavioral and emotional concerns disproportionately contribute to youth offending outcomes. Physical activity interventions are associated with improved mood regulation, reduced stress response, improved executive functioning, and increased resilience. And lastly, mentorship relationships significantly improve social emotional outcomes and reduce behavioral concerns. And so this pilot that we're trying to launch, the mission statement reads, to redefine youth diversion through an innovative model that integrates mental health support, life skills coaching, mentorship, and boxing fitness to help young people channel adversity into growth, leadership, and purpose. And this is something that my colleagues and I have been looking at. Some of the associated partners right now that we've been working with are at the Valdosta Housing Authority, Fit Fighter LLC, a work in progress, which is a local licensed therapist. And these are some of the folks that are part of it. And we're just coming together with this solution because of some of the things that are happening in our community. And this pilot will help us to establish a reference point for future ideas for the city as it pertains to giving something, you know, giving our students something to do and having them to channel a lot of that energy into something positive. And I want to close with this statement. Every young person deserves more than to be told what not to do. They deserve adults who will show them who they can become. Thank you guys so much and I'll see you after the meeting.

Dr. Berry, thank you. Are there any other citizens wishing to be heard at this time? Seeing none, I'll close out this portion of the evening and turn it over to Al Crace for our city manager's report.

Yes, sir. I would like to introduce Kai Kemp. Please stand, Kai. Kai? He's our... He's our... Valdosta State University intern with the manager and mayor's office. this summer. He's a senior and will graduate in December and is president of the student government and is off and running in the last two weeks. His next assignment is to go visit with the departments and help build an organization chart for the city and go through each department and draw that carefully and I have high expectations for that. He's from Thomasville, and I think his brother's coming to VSU this next term. But welcome, and we're glad to have you.

Fantastic.

I'd like to announce a couple of other things. We have adopted a policy of, we have various rooms, that are used by the community, nonprofits, and other various parties. And we also have other parks and facilities. And they're scattered around about where do you go to get a reservation. And so we've centralized all that through the Main Street program. And Andrew Duvall has taken that on enthusiastically and has developed a plan and a program and a fee schedule for each of those levels. And it's all coming together. And we want to announce that we're going to have one stop shopping. and so people can apply to use those facilities and those who've been current users being transferred over there so it all worked. JC Shack, I believe, they believe they'll book 40 weekends a year at that facility. So we're off and running on that. The second is we have community events and parades that are significant, and the city winds up doing a lot of in-kind and direct expense work. And so to do that, it's been an application that Commander Renfrow's at the police department, but he would have to coordinate with everybody. We've changed that. We're gonna have a round table for particularly for higher level, level two and level one items. that like the Christmas parade, Bluesberry, major neighborhood events and things. And I've invited all the round table to the departments so that they all are present and then we would invite, particularly on significant ones, the applicant to sit and visit and we talk about what all resources are gonna be needed. And then I wanna also attach a cost program so we can let the council know not only that an event is scheduled and what the application is but also what is the cost both of the in-kind and indirect cost to the city and and backhandedly into the different budgets think that's important information to share when we do these community events is to understand the cost of the city and that any of these facilities are not free they do have a cost we're sometimes we're pleased to invest in the community but we ought to be aware of the cost as well as the event so any questions no Al thank you

Move on to council comments, and if you don't mind, I'll take privilege to lead off. I think what we just experienced is probably, in my seven years, the best citizens to be heard portion of the evening that I've ever experienced. A couple of things for us to work on, but thank you for the praise, for the work being done at the city, by the city council, and by that amazing staff back there as well. All 650 show up every day to serve you, and they don't mind a pat on the back every once in a while. This past Sunday I went to the most, the lengthiest church service I've ever been to in celebration of the 158th anniversary of First Antioch Missionary Baptist Church. It was a fantastic celebration of something that has been a consistent, just a rock in this community for longer than the community has been here as well. And during that time, we took great pride in having completely fooled the Humanitarian of the Year award winner, Ms. Vivian Miller Cody, our councilwoman. She thought I was just attending the church service. We were there for her and for that amazing church and celebration. I'm gonna back up Samantha. It was on my list, the grand opening of a much anticipated addition to this community. Nothing like it, people from Atlanta to Orlando. It's 10,000 square feet of experiential learning. The grand opening of the Children's Imagination Station happens this Saturday and this community just got better for it. Samantha, thank you very much. And then finally, put July 3rd down on your calendar. July 3rd, Patrick Pearson, our Main Street director, is teaming up with the Valdosta Symphony Orchestra. He's teaming up with an amazing drone performance at Unity Park on the 3rd, starting at about five o'clock. There'll be food trucks and vendors, the symphony performing their very first ever outdoor concert in their 37 years of existence. and then the drone show at dark it is going to be our america 250 celebration so please it's free and open to all citizens i think the only price you have to pay is they're going to tell you what the upcoming symphony season looks like all five all five performances as well so please put july 3rd down then of course july 4th will still be the big fireworks display that the parks and rec puts on out there by toyota in between exit 16 and 18. council

yours for comments yeah uh... i'd just like to say uh... is it mystery that that's your name centurion sorry about that I will say that I appreciate you coming and speaking about this. I know the council, we've sat in individual budget meetings this week, and one of the main common factors has been getting cameras into our parks and looking at our budget to do so. We do have a few funding sources that I think we can do that in conjunction with Chief Manahan, who's one, like the mayor has already stated, and City Manager Al Kreis has. that um we'll have some options to start doing that but i want you to be aware that council did discuss that and we discussed that this week um so um we just gotta get all the people in the together at the table and figure out what parks are we going to do and how we're going to implement it all. But I want you to be aware of that, that we did discuss that this week. Actually, we discussed it today, actually. Me and Councilman Carroll did, and I think the rest of them did yesterday as well. Anyhow, to everybody else, thank y'all. To our other employees, y'all have done a great job with your budget. I've done a great job with everything, Darquita, your whole crew, and all y'all as well, so keep it up. A lot of money has gone out, but there's been a lot of good product produced from it, and so thank y'all for that.

Well said. Nick?

Actually, I was going to say the same thing. Thank you, Chanteria, for coming. We appreciate that. She called me Sunday and had a slew of calls about the same thing. So thank you. And that actually correlates with what Dr. Berry and Tyson came up and spoke about, getting these kids active, you know, something for them to do, you know, athletics. Of course, you know, we're known for that. mental stimulation some some different things I don't know if you guys heard it in there but boxing you know just different things you know to get these kids to put these guns down you know to me I'm so excited to hear that plan and we are working on those cameras and everything else y'all we are working know that this council the staff is working we are trying to make it happen for you

Just want to say to the Antioch Missionary Baptist Church and to our mayors, Council Mayor Scott Madison and our city interim Al Grace, they really got me Sunday. I'm not a person that, as Councilman Cooley called me, you know she's a nanny of everybody, she wait on everybody, but I'm not used to receiving gifts and recognition and love, and I'm still upset with Councilman McIntyre because he was in it also. But again, I just want to say thank you to everyone who gave me calls, and et cetera, and even for the applaud today. And to our department heads, I want to say to every one of you all, thank you for how you all have, we all became a family again. We're working together, we can talk together, we can disagree and agree and still want to work for the same cause. And for that, I'm asking all our councilors, let's stand and give our department heads a round of applause, because they are doing a great job.

My goodness

Okay.