Mayor and Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Thank you all for joining us today for our city council meeting. For those of you who may not have a copy of tonight's packet, there are QR codes on the back of the rotunda. You can scan it and follow along with us on your electronic device. Today we are going to have our council meeting open with a prayer to be led by Bishop Harvey B. of the Winning Church and our Pledge of Allegiance to be led by Battalion Chief Brian White from the Warner Robins Fire Department. If you all would please stand as Pastor B. starts us off in prayer.

Can we bow together? Heavenly Father, we come before you today with grateful hearts, acknowledging that you are the source of all wisdom, justice, and authority. Your word reminds us that the powers that be are ordained of God. And we thank you for those who have accepted the responsibility of serving this community. Today we lift up our mayor, each member of the city council, and all who serve this municipality. And grant them wisdom to make sound decisions, courage to do what is right, even when it's difficult. and humility to seek the welfare of every citizen above personal interests. Father, let truth guide each discussion, integrity shape each decision, and unity prevail even when there are differences of opinion. and give them ears to hear, hearts to understand, and minds that are open to the wise counsel. We pray for peace within our city, bless our families, strengthen our schools, protect our first responders, encourage our business community, and provide for those who are struggling. Let this city be a place where justice is upheld, compassion is demonstrated, and hope continues to grow we ask that you would protect every leader represented here today and their families surround them with your favor keep them in good health and give them the strength needed to faithfully fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to them as this meeting begins may every agenda item be handled with fairness respect and genuine desire to serve the common good And may the decisions made here today bring lasting benefit to this community and honor the principles of righteousness. For your word declares righteousness exalts a nation. And we thank you for your guidance, your mercy, and your continued blessings upon this city. And we commit this meeting into your hands, trusting that you will direct every step. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Now for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

Thank you. You may be seated. We would like to take a picture with Bishop B and also Battalion Chief White so that you can have it for your records.

I got no problem

Thank you. thank you

All right. All right. Now that we've completed prayer and our pledge, I would like to officially call today's meeting to order. We'll first start with an adoption of the agenda with one revision.

Mayor, I move to adopt the agenda with addition of executive session to add personnel.

I'll second that, Mayor.

Motion by Councilman Lawrence and seconded by Councilman Bibb. All those in favor, please state aye and raise your hand. Motion carries unanimously now onto announcements. I'll make them quite quick, quite quick for this first part. I'll share the rest at the end of the meeting. Um, but we do have the mayor's health initiative continuing. So if you please check our social medias, you can see the great things we have in store for you this week, which includes Zumba and adult literacy and fitness, sorry, an adult lit and fit, uh, event and a backyard gardening intro. So some great things. Check out our website and our social media pages and our city app to follow along and see what you can participate in. We have a joint comprehensive planned town hall meeting that'll take place on Thursday, August the 6th from 6 to 7.30 p.m. here at City Hall. Any of you who care about what happens in our city as we continue growing and thriving, we need you to come and participate and also to complete the survey that you can find and let us know what you'd like to see inside of our city. I know some people will complain about the convenience stores, the car washes, the quick service car places. If you have those concerns, you need to really Come out for that comprehensive plan meeting and also complete those surveys. We want to hear from you right now We haven't even gotten to 1,000 people in the city of Warner Robins to give insight on what they'd want to see in our city So this is how we make our decisions by your engagement. So please come forward and and participate in those surveys. We have a family fun night coming up next week on Wednesday, August the 12th at North Houston Sports Complex. That starts at 4 p.m. right around the time the children get out of school and it goes through 8 p.m. And we have back to school starting tomorrow for Houston County School System. So make sure you adjust to have extra time for your commute. And there is a grace period for the speed zone cameras, so you don't have to worry about those. We always give a grace period when school starts back, but still be aware of them so you're getting back in the habit of knowing that they are alive. We will let you know when those actually go live, but you do have a grace period at the beginning of each school term. Okay, now that those announcements have completed, I'm going on to the proclamations, awards, and presentations. We do have an award to present by our friends at the Georgia Municipal Association. Miss Artifany Stanley, he represents our region, region six for the city of Warner Robins, and she has an award to give to probably one of our members who missed the annual meeting, annual convention in Savannah this year.

I do. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Thank you for having me here today. It is my honor to be here tonight to present a training certificate to Councilmember Derek Mack, who received the Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute Certificate of Excellence during the Georgia Municipal Association's annual convention. The Harold F. Holtz Municipal Training Institute is a cooperative effort between GMA and the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson Institute of Government and provides a nationally recognized series of training opportunities for city officials. The certificate of excellence requires 120 hours of training, including at least 54 hours from the required list and the Newly Elected Officials Institute, and the Robert E. Knox Jr. Municipal Training Leadership Institute. The training program consists of more than 80 courses. We are proud of our partnership with GMA to provide exceptional, practical, and relevant instruction to Georgia's more than 3,500 municipal officials, said UGA's Cardvance Institute of Government Director Rob Garten. So please congratulate me tonight with congratulating Derek Mack on his certificate of excellence, which is his third training certificate from Harold F. Holtz Institute.

all right congratulations all right so now since I have no proclamations this year since I have no proclamations this year tonight we are going to move on to item one on our agenda which is the City of Civility Pledge. As you all may recall, a couple of years ago, the City of Warner Robins went through the Georgia Municipal Association, you just heard from Ms. R. Tiffany Stanley, and we uh, applied to be a city of civility. And we took a pledge amongst all of our peers through the state of Georgia. And as a practice council and I decided to recite this pledge once a year at the first meeting somewhere, one of the first meetings of our new fiscal year, which started in July. So today, we have our City of Civility Ceremonial Pledge, and we will be reading this together. Council, you have yours in front of you, and we're just going to do this. This just reminds us, it's a good practice because it reminds us of how we should conduct ourselves, but it also allows you to see and hear how serious we take our jobs and our efforts to be civil with one another. So it goes, I'm going to start first because I have the first part, and then we have a piece that council and I say together, and then it goes back with me closing us out. So we're gonna start it right now. My portion. Originally adopted in March of 2023 and renewed in February 2025, we have been entrusted by the citizens of Warner Robins to serve with integrity, fairness, and respect. Today, we reaffirm by reciting the pledge of our commitment to the principles of civility that strengthen our government, build public trust, and foster meaningful dialogue. I ask each member of Mayor and Council to join me in affirming the following pledge. Together. We recognize that the way we govern is as important as the decisions we make. We pledge to conduct ourselves with honesty, professionalism, courtesy, and respect in every interaction with one another, our staff, and the citizens we serve. We will listen with open minds, value differing perspectives, and engage in thoughtful and respectful discussions, even when we disagree.

We will focus our debate on issues and ideas, never on personal attacks, and we will strive to foster collaboration in the best interests of our community.

We will uphold the dignity of public office by demonstrating integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical leadership. We will encourage meaningful public participation and ensure that every person is treated with respect and fairness.

Together, we reaffirm our commitment to the principles of the Georgia Municipal Association's City of Civility Initiative

and dedicate ourselves to serving the people of Warner Robins with honor, respect, and civility. This is our pledge to one another, to our organization, and to the citizens of the City of Warner Robins. Thank you. By our words and our actions, may we continue to lead with civility, integrity, and a shared commitment to the success of our community. Thank you for participating in the recital of our City of Civility ceremonial pledge once again. All right, so now we have made it to the public comments portion of our council meeting. This is for individuals who would like to make a comment, address a concern, or just be heard about one of the numbered agenda items only. If you are here and would like to make a comment about agenda item three through 12 only, you have an opportunity to approach the podium. Please be sure to state your name and address for the record along with the item, the numbered item you will be speaking on. If you'd like to speak about something outside of the numbered agenda items, you will have another opportunity at the end of the numbered agenda. The floor is now open. You will have three minutes on the rotunda. When you hear it sound, it is time for you to take a seat. And we do appreciate your willingness to share. Please note that we, council and I, do hear you, though we may not respond to you at this moment. The floor is now open. Going once.

We don't want to miss our chance. Y'all don't have the big clock like they have. Oh, you do have one. Good. If the county commissioners, it's tick, tick, ticking. Anyway, I live at 115 Chantilly Drive. My name is Rhonda Moore. We're here about the rezoning of 100 South Amanda and 104 South Amanda. 100 is the large track that that lines up with the track that the hotel has already been built on. 104 is a small triangular track that, in our opinion, has no meaningful reason for the developer to need it, except they say for the buffer. Well, some of the buffer's already been destroyed, The buffer could still put the for it and part of the concern is there's the House at 106. If that commercial bets up to 106 then what's to stop that person from saying we're contiguous to commercial property we want to go commercial the county attorney said it was unlikely but he did not say it was impossible. So where do you stop the invasion of Commercial property into a neighborhood. We have a very established neighborhood It has been desecrated somewhat by the commercial that is around us for traffic reasons and so forth the county commissioners restricting the Access onto the subdivision Street will help it won't stop traffic, but it will help People go to the traffic light which has been a huge asset for the neighborhood our concern is that 104 is not necessary for the 100. And therefore, we are just requesting that you leave it zoned residential so they can't push back their line and build commercial on it.

Thank you, Ms. Moore. Will there be any others?

My name is Kimberly Pritchett. Same property, two other points. I do agree with her. We need a 25 foot buffer along South Amanda and around the back of the property. The other thing is They are already egressing using it for business on the back end of 100 and on the I guess the. The left side of 104 absent Councilman Lawrence and Councilman back pictures of it where is showing they are already running wired using that as a way to egress onto our county road, which is violating an ordinance already. I was asked, why haven't we say anything to the county? Well, this has been in limbo for the last couple of weeks, which is when this aggression has started over the last couple of weeks. So we were kind of like, okay, so is it going to be in the city? Is it going to be in the county? Who do we go to? So if you can get into the city, you've got to stop it or we're going to be knocking at your door because it is a direct violation. onto our county right. So those are the two things I wanted to bring up. If you need the pictures, I'd be glad to send them to you. I didn't have the other phones to text to. Sorry.

Thank you, ma'am. Would you mind repeating your name, please?

Sure. Kimberly Pritchett. Pritchett. P-R-I-T-C-H.

Thank you, Ms. Pritchett.

Good evening. My name is Cindy Rogers. I'm at 706 Loudon Hill Drive in Carlton Ridge subdivision, and I'm addressing motion seven on the agenda. Uh, just a quick question. Is it my understanding that until there is a permit for access from highway 41 that there will be no construction whatsoever on that property, that there's nothing because we don't have to worry about heavy equipment rolling through Rose Hill subdivision. Okay, so that we should not see any more movement on that property because there has been recent movement on it.

Yes.

Okay, we are making that a condition. Okay. All right. Um, we are not particularly in favor of multi family housing on that property because of the negative impact that it is going to have on our joining neighborhoods. We'd much rather see either all commercial professional medical office space, keep it professional, no retail or single family homes. But I mean, I guess we'll learn to live with whatever we're dealt. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Rogers.

My name is Chris Pritchett. I live at 139 Carter Woods. I want to discuss not the annexation. We don't mind annexation at all. We're all for progress. The reason is the issue, as the two ladies have discussed, the county does not currently seem to know what's going on with the 104 property. Personally, I think they're running... wires through that area, the fiber optic stuff that's going around Warner Robins, Houston County. But the biggest concern is even with the 25-foot buffer that we discussed during the pre-council meeting, the home sits about 15 foot off of that property line. So you're looking at about a 40-foot buffer. current buffer they're using on the hotel property is a eight foot plastic fence uh which for that portion i mean it's a five-story hotel that does block the first story but come fall the the ladies that live in that neighborhood their yards are wide open uh Even with the property line that 106 has and the 25-foot buffer, after talking with a developer last week, although there are no plans set in stone, there was some discussion about putting a restaurant there and a strip mall. And we all know that when you have those kind of businesses there, which is fine, you put your employees parking in the back, you put your dumpsters in the back. I'm a late-night person. 11.30 at night, I'm usually outside with my dog. I'm taking out the trash. And I can hear, because of the tight situation, the trucks cannot get in there at nighttime or during the day because of the business being open. They have to do it at night. And from half a mile away, I can hear them. Even inside my house I can hear. Most people are asleep because they're a little smarter than me. But I'm a late night person. The other issue I have is if you go from the back property line from the south to the north, it makes a slight turn and goes around 106. I believe if you rezone 100 104 to commercial uh and 106 starts getting these noises at night the traffic cigarette smoke everything else first thing he's going to do is sell and that if he sells that property to him it gives him a straight line on that back property line thank you thank you mr pritchard

Hello. Good evening. Jason Heisterkamp from Kathleen. I live at 103 Roberts Road. And I wanted to speak tonight to summarize the last couple of years for item number five, which is the annexation on Old Perry Road. We've been in this position and in this room multiple times over the course of the last few years. We've been in the counties. you hear me now we've been in the counties we've been in front of the county commissioners multiple times over the last few years i just want to summarize how the last county commissioner meeting ended which was they could neither concur or non-concur they chose to they chose to go no vote because they do not agree by law they cannot Non concur with this or concur with it and they can either non concur with it and this is a signal This is them showing that they won't go against the law so they cannot stop the annexation but they wanted everybody to understand that they clearly do not agree with the outcome of Of what this property is being looked at what the property was purchased for what is being looked at for in 24 months from now To be annexed into commercial They the County Commissioner spoke in front of all of us that he was He and the entire Commission were in agreement that this is not commercial is not compatible with the area and It is completely surrounded by residential. We have concerns of safety. We have concerns of reduction in property values. And we know with the traffic, just the high schoolers alone from living there, if there becomes a commercial property on this corner, that the safety concerns will be increased. I believe we're going to lose a student on that corner. They already cut through our dirt road to bypass the corner. They will use the corner to cut through as well. So I just wanted to remind everybody we know what the intentions of the property were because we've stood in this very room over the course of two years to talk about what would be built there, the finishes of this property, and it was gas stations and storage units. And the only reason this property was chosen was due to the size, and it is, to quote, the last piece of property on the highway that can be developed. So although we disagree with this, we don't want the charm and the reasons we live here. These have all been family homes for a very long time. So we don't agree with it ever becoming a commercial entity. And we don't want to be standing here in 24 months with everybody to describe why this shouldn't be a commercial property. If rezoning happens today, this is where we'll be in 24 months. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Heisterkamp. Will there be any others?

Hello. My name's Deborah Edmondson. I live at 102 Wilderness Trail in Kathleen. And I am talking about the number five also. I'm a little nervous, so I apologize. I know that all of this is, you've heard it all again, but I want to really appeal to your side of things. Open your hearts and look at what that piece of property will do to us as the people that live there. I live off of 127, but 127 is very, very high traffic right now. It will be a lot worse. And the people that I understand that are trying to have it annexed will later on do the rezoning as well. And then we won't have any choice of what goes there. You're talking about more noise, more traffic, more everything that we don't want. Our kids are there. Our families are there. We even have horses and things in our neighborhoods. And I just cannot see all of that changing for one person to change it to a business area. And if you had your kids and your home right there, would you honestly look at me and say, yes, I want that? It's OK with me? I don't think you would. I really don't think you would. And I implore each one of you to look at your hearts, God knows your heart, but look at your hearts and vote. That gentleman over there last time was the only one that was willing to say, I'm really not for this, but I'm here as just a senior citizen. I won't live there much longer, but I do hope that my family will contribute and still stay in that area. I have notes here, so I'm going to look at them. We also have, we don't really need businesses there. We have a Dollar General at each end of 127. We have a gas station at each end of 127. Why do we need anything else right there? And I just, I think that's about all that I have to say. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Edmondson.

As you can see, I don't have any notes. My name is Kathy Talton. I'm a little nervous too because this is an emotional thing for me. I've lived across the street from this 13 acres for 40 years. I've raised three children out there and I have five grandchildren being raised out there right now. I lost my husband out there in a farming accident. I've stood at the driveway and watched school buses be rear-ended from traffic. I stand there every afternoon and watch cars coming off of Old Perry Road from the high school, not even acknowledging that the bus has stopped and the stop sign is out. I promise you I will be taking pictures of cars and car tags this year. If a child gets hurt, it's going to be really sad. If we put commercial activity over there, it's going to be rough. It's not a good thing. My husband had lived in Kathleen all his life. He grew up there. I became a member of Kathleen when I married him 40 years ago in September. I don't want to see commercial business out there. That's a nice plot. He could build some houses out there, make it a nice area, build a community building for his big already built homes out there with a pool and a playground for the kids to come and play on. He does not have to have access. He doesn't have to have that and i'm just like this lady i'm begging you to think about your family and if you lived across the street from that and what your heart's saying because we have fought this from day one and miss kathy jones's children thought we were fighting it her being able to sell it i never had a problem with her selling it it wasn't what she that she was selling it it was what the person she was selling it to wanted to do with it and make it commercial because all I've heard is a gas station, inconvenient store, storage buildings, a car wash, all commercial stuff. I don't know what he put to planning and zoning as far as what they he asked for to do with it, but I do not agree with commercial there. I fear for my grandchildren getting on and off the bus, and they start tomorrow coming home. And I will be down there at the end of that driveway with my phone ready to take pictures of people that are not following the law and not stopping. And it's not all coming from the school, because my grandchildren don't get to the bus stop until about 4, but it's coming from the base. Frito-Lay, tractor-trailer rigs, the trash people because of the mandating on Bear Branch Road, they can't travel down that road anymore. It's horrible. If you want to come sit with me, come on. I'll be glad to have you, and you can see what I'm talking about. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Talton. Will there be any others? Going once. Going twice. The door is now closed. Thank you all for your comments, and we definitely hear you, and we are thinking through all the points that were made. Now we will proceed to item number three, which is the consent agenda to be discussed by Councilman Mack.

you thank you madam mayor i can make a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented item a july 20th 2025 meetings one minutes b july 20th 2025 meetings two minutes C. Resolution Employee Promotions. D. Resolution Bank Signature Georgia Fund One Accounts. E. Resolution Bank Signature Amendment Synovus. And I hope that everyone has had an opportunity to view these in the package online as the packet in Centauri is located there.

I'll second that, Mayor.

Motion by Councilman Mack, seconded by Councilman Bibb. Any discussion?

all those in favor please state i and raise your hand mission carries unanimously i remember for is a purchase purchasing consent items to be discussed by councilman homes thank you madam uh... i bring to you a motion to approve the purchasing consent agenda has presented a resolution brett is repairing the lawn care engaged one around the landscape maintenance Item B, resolution, North America Fire Equipment Company, Incorporated. Amendment number one, Warner Robins Fire Department uniforms. C. Resolution Motorola Solutions, Warner Robins Fire Department. D. Invoice Proposal Approvals. 1. General Administration Associated Systems Incorporated, ASI $18,578.75. Two under D, Community and Economic Development Jubilee Decor LLC, $23,000. Three, Community and Economic Development, Butler-Snow LLP, $16,110. Four, Building and Inspections, Comcade Software Incorporated, $10,518.61. Five, City Clerk's Office, Middle Georgia Region Commission, $114,089.30. A move for the adoption.

I'll second.

Motion by Councilman Holmes, seconded by Councilman Lashley. Any discussion? All those in favor, please state aye and raise your hand. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Item number five is an ordinance for annexation, second reading to be discussed by Councilman Bibb.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll make a motion to approve the ordinance for annexation request by Castaway Self Storage and Car Wash LLC of properties located at 727 Old Perry Road and 2717 Highway 127, together totaling 13.53 acres.

I second.

Motion by Councilman Bibb, seconded by Councilman Curtis. Any discussion?

yes mayor i would just like to point out that what we're voting on today has nothing to do with the intended use of the project and we're simply voting on annexation today and i don't recall in the last 14 years of us denying an annexation to a property that was contiguous to the city and my preference is that it stays residential and i'm just making that noted but i do believe this is a total separate issue than what we're talking about with an intended use.

Thank you. Any further discussion? I will also say, um, we know we have, we've heard many comments today and last meeting regarding agenda item five. And I do also want to express just as councilman Lawrence and, and the other stated last meeting that by law. Mayor and council are only to consider the requested annexation, which by annexation, we have to follow the law of the state of Georgia and determining our answer. If we choose improperly, then the Department of Community Affairs will be involved and they will go by the strict letter of the law and then we basically get a pop on our hand. That's the way it goes with annexation in our state. The only party who is able to annex a property in the state of Georgia is the property owner. So the property owner's right is what we have to entertain. they have a right to request that annexation council and mayor I myself we are supposed to follow the law of the state of Georgia when considering annexation unless there is a missing component of the statute which there is no missing component in this particular case now that being stated The concerns that we are hearing and we have heard about the property located at 727 Old Perry Road and Highway 127. is about the use of the property, which whenever there is a request to change that intended use from agriculture to something else, it must come back before mayor and council. And at that time is when we can say and we have the ability to say, We do not approve your intended land use because of the concerns of the community. So you sharing your concerns are good. They are valid. And it's good for us to know way ahead of time what the position is inside the community. But I do want to make sure I express over and over again when it comes to annexation in the state of Georgia, there is strict compliance to what the law requires. So don't take our vote tonight, however council decides, as us not hearing you because we hear you. We hear you with our ears. We hear you from our head. We hear you in our hearts. So trust me when I say we hear you. We are there with you. And we will consider the land use whenever that property owner comes back and says they're requesting a rezoning. And that's when all of our hearts can be activated. And then we can make decisions at that point. Are there any further discussions? All right. I will call for the vote. All those in favor, please state aye and raise your hand. Opposers the same. Motion carries. Item number six is an ordinance for annexation to be discussed by Councilman Curtis.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I motion to approve the ordinance for annexation requested by Carter Sister Properties LLC of properties located at 101 and 104 Amanda Place, together totaling 4.53 acres. And I would like to waive the second reading.

I second that.

Motion by Councilman Curtis, waiving the second reading. Seconded by Councilman Holmes. Any discussion? All those in favor, please, any discussion? I have a point of discussion. I almost went too fast. We had a lot of complaints, a lot of comments, I should say, made about item number six as well. So I will share some insight on that at this moment. When it comes to item number six, Inside of pre-council, for anyone who may have missed it, there was a robust discussion amongst council and staff regarding the concerns of the community with that particular parcel. Inside of that meeting, we discussed the desire to keep a buffer there, a natural buffer, or an enhanced buffer to make sure that 25 feet from that parcel, at the beginning of that parcel, is that 100? The small one, 100? 104. The small parcel that's a triangular shape is 104. 104, Amanda. There was a discussion on the desire to make sure that stays as an undisturbed natural buffer that can be enhanced to maintain that 25-foot buffer. Also, the requirements for there to be no access on to Amanda Place. And there are things we can do to uh... produced it through traffic that may may exist coming down amanda to get to uh... that parcel that'll that may be redeveloped i also understand any significant well i have to understand a new point that was made that really piqued my interest which is what does it mean if a parcel this is on the rezoning but i'm gonna say it now anyway cuz that's coming up next uh... if a parcel is that personal terms to commercial the desire for someone else to maybe change their residential to commercial I understand that concern but one thing that we can do in our stipulation as we've already stated is to state that parcel as as a 25 foot buffer, which if somebody tries to make that next parcel a commercial, their frontage will be a lot of trees that can never be disturbed, 25 feet. So I do understand that perspective, but I also wanted to give you that added explanation as to the significance of that 25 foot buffer against that residential property. If that owner wants to sell to make it commercial, that buffer cannot go away and that commercial access onto Amanda also won't happen. So it's almost as a place where you should be pretty safe from making that be a commercial lot behind that particular buffer because there'll be no access for anyone to use for something other than residential to that lot. Are there any other discussion for item number six?

Yes, Mayor. I'd like to add to that. I've heard conflicting things today about the access from 104, who's using the access, what they're pulling through there. I just want to say that can we address that tomorrow and have somebody go out there and address that, that that lot's not being used for traffic and they're not doing that. Can we address that tomorrow and have somebody assess that, please?

Yes, it would come under our jurisdiction as soon as it is signed, as soon as council gives the approval to accept, if they accept the annexation and or the rezoning, then that's when the city can restrict the access that may be coming off of South Amanda.

So if we don't, it would be county's responsibility, correct, because it's a county road? Correct. Correct.

And there is an actual date by law when the annexation would officially go into effect. I was told that I should share this since it is asked. And that date would be September 1st. That's when the annexation would officially be, will be official so that we can restrict. But in the meantime and in between time, Staff can still take a look look in check out what's happening there and utilize our authority to help Promote if the county is saying that there should be no access there We can work with the county and helping shut that down for the residents Any further discussion And again, this one is for the annexation because there are two parts to number six. All those in favor, please state aye and raise your hand. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Item number 6A is a rezoning petition of said parcel to be discussed by Councilman Curtis.

Again, thank you, Madam Mayor. I motion to approve the rezoning of the same property from R1 to C2. City, with the following stipulation. No commercial access to be granted from South Amanda Place or South Houston Lake Road. Commercial access is to be established through the inter-partial connectivity from the adjoining commercial tracks via the traffic signal at Smithfield Church Road and South Houston Lake. I'm sorry. The existing natural buffer that exists along the property line Abutting residential districts shall be enhanced so that to improve year-round OPAC screening to result in a complete buffer tolling 25 feet. A photometric and lighting plan shall be accompanying any plans for commercial development. Second.

Motion by Councilman Curtis, seconded by Councilman Holmes. Any discussion?

Mayor, I'm conflicted because of how we've had to mitigate these issues with other parcels in the past based upon what we agree upon in this room that doesn't take place in the field without accountability as the project flows and not get to a point where it can be corrected. There's only so much we can do, but there needs to be an accountability tool to ensure that these buffers are exactly how they've been explained to us, case in point, Hatcher Estates. It just became something else because there were no checks and balances in place as this parcel was developed, and I don't want to make the same mistake.

And not disturb what's already there naturally.

That's already been disturbed because I rode over there and saw it.

And you make a good point, Councilman Mack. I know many decisions come before a city over the years, and when it comes to development, rezonings, and things like that, we see mistakes that we wish we could undo, areas where we can improve. I feel like for this particular one, we have done a good job in learning from the past and making this one fit better. That's why I really enjoyed the conversation we had inside of our pre-council meeting. But when it comes to the enforcement and accountability for these stipulations, which our attorney has expressly put in to make sure every restriction, every stipulation is included in the action of council, I understand that the accountability is something that council needs to be comfortable with. So with that, I'm going to ask if Mr. Darren Curtis and or Mr. Vic Savage could come forward to give us a little insight, if they are here, on the enforcements of the stipulations Council has proposed in the motion. And we have Mr. Vic Savage, who is the Assistant Director of Building and Inspections, coming forward.

Before he speaks, Mayor, so we can't enforce that road until September 1st when it officially becomes the property becomes Warner Robins, correct?

We would work in conjunction with the county. We can go ahead, we can go out there, we can take a look at it. We'll have to coordinate with the county because it won't officially be inside the city until the effective date, but we can go ahead and start working with the county. We can start dealing directly with the developer because we know it is coming into the county. We just can't issue citations, things like that.

So is the county already involved in this particular problem since that road is theirs now and they're saying it's being used? Have they been contacted to let them know that this is being used?

It's the first I've heard of it.

Have y'all just started? Okay, can we make contact with the, can we do that at least on our part, make contact with them tomorrow? Thank you, sir.

All right, Mr. Savage.

We'll make sure any stipulations in place get done. Planning and zoning is now part of our plan review process, so they'll have a chance to review it.

Thank you, Mr. Savage.

And the point of matter is, in the pre-council meeting, it was stated that it was used to park a van or something there. And I don't believe that was a resident that did this. And I don't believe that to be the case, Mayor, at all. This is a high traffic area.

Thank you, and I do also want to state for this particular item, when I made the statement about us learning from the past and the situation at Lake Joy and Russell, that development has been giving us a headache. I will state the difference with that one and the concerns we're hearing from the community is that the owner of the parcel utilized their authority and right to harvest the timber, which they didn't have to come to us first to do, which leaves us in a different position than we are with this particular parcel. And now we can ask and require that natural buffer. But for that parcel, we were not given that opportunity. But the difference, too, to note is now we know the questions to ask. And now we know the requirements to put in place because of what we have learned from that situation. And together, the council you see here and myself, we will do our part by learning from situations such as that So that when we're having these type of developments be proposed for rezoning, we know the questions to ask and the things to look out for. And again, how to make sure that we are enforcing what has been stipulated and making sure that the motion is specific for everything which gives us full authority to enforce.

And if I can add to it, I think if I'm not mistaken, that will be coming into my district. So, Councilman and residents, I promise you that I will stay on top of it and work with Vic to make sure that everything gets taken care of come September 1st.

Appreciate that, Councilman Curtis.

Any further discussion?

I just had one more thing. I personally concur with 100 being rezoned because it's on Houston Lake Road, but I just didn't really understand why 104 had to be rezoned if it's all it was going to be was a buffer. I look at the shape of the lot. I see the width of the frontage. It's probably more than 25 feet, so I kind of understand that, but just have a lot of reservation about rezoning that piece, and that's my biggest concern.

Mayor, I call for the vote.

All right. With this session concluded, I will call for the vote. All those in favor in the rezoning petition, please state aye and raise your hand. Motion carries unanimously with the stipulations that were stated in the motion to protect the land to the way that we discussed here and in pre-council. All right. Item number seven is a motion for rezoning to be discussed by Councilman Lawrenson.

Thank you, Mayor. I motion to approve the rezoning petition requested by Alamo Opportunity Fund LLC of 8.741 acres located at the east side of Highway 41 directly adjacent to the west of Rose Hill subdivision from R1 single family residential to the zoning of PDE planned unit development extraordinary district with the following stipulation. Number one, the proposed landscape buffer for the overall site shall be established as part of the phase one of development. Number two, no construction activity shall occur on the property until access to the property from Highway 41 is obtained with all required approvals. And I will motion to approve with it as it is. Does this need to be away? We're not having this.

I'll second that, Mayor.

Motion by Councilman Lawrenson, seconded by Councilman Bibb. Any discussion? Again, please pay attention to the stipulations that were stated. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please state aye and raise your hand. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Item number eight is a motion for rezoning petition to be discussed by Councilman Lashley.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I make a motion to approve the rezoning petition requested from Estates ATLK LLC for properties totaling 42.12 acres located on the west side of Estates Way of tax parcel 061006, lots 42 and 63 from M2 Industrial District to R1 Single Family Residential District.

I'll second.

Motion by Councilman Lashley, seconded by Councilman Curtis. Any discussion? All those in favor, please state aye and raise your hand. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Item number nine is a motion for special exception to be discussed by Councilman Mack.

Thank you, madam mayor. I'd like to make a motion to approve the special except exception requests for one-on-one Regency court requested by Delilah bottom for permission to operate a peer supported recovery residents group home subject to provisions of appendix C section 97 of the zoning code.

I'll second that mayor motion by councilman Mack, seconded by councilman Bibb. Any discussion? I'll just state for the record that this particular item was discussed in pre-council and we did hear from the owner that the HOA that governs that particular subdivision did not object to the intended use of this property. Any further discussion? All those in favor please state aye and raise your hand. Motion carries unanimously. Item number 10 is a resolution for renaming of Wright Drive to be discussed by Councilman Curtis.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. As my brother Darren Lee would say, point of privilege. If I could have the family come forward. Mr. Darren Lee, the immediate family, please.

All right, Councilman Curtis has called for the immediate family of our late Councilman Darren Lee to come forward. You can stand right here in front of this table as Councilman Curtis reads a resolution.

She's coming forward here? Okay. Okay.

Hi, Madam President.

Again, thank you, Madam Mayor. Number 10, whereas Darren D. Lee served the City of Warner Robins for two separate terms on City Council, and whereas the Mayor and Council wishes to honor Councilman Lee, Posthumous Lee, by renaming Wright Drive to Darren D. Lee Drive. Now, therefore, I motion for the approval of the resolution that in recognition of his civic duty, the Municipal Roadway System for the City of Warner Robins be amended to change the name Wright Drive to Darren D. Lee Drive. Second.

Motion by Councilman Curtis, seconded by Councilman Holmes. And for the record, there's also a third by Councilman Lawrenson, a fourth by Councilman Bibb, a fifth by Councilman Mack, a sixth by Councilman Lashley. Everyone is in agreement for this. There's a motion and several seconds. Any discussion?

Mayor, I just want to say this is when you name something like this after another person, it's tough because you don't want to do it all over the place. You kind of hesitate, but I cannot think of a more fitting situation for us to be doing this to honor Brother Darren and his family. Not just Brother Darren, but the whole family who has been such an important part of our community from its very beginnings.

Absolutely.

To quote Darren himself, you think you know until you know. And until you sit behind this desk, you really don't know anything.

To add to that, all you know is what you know because you don't know what you don't know.

Any further discussion?

As I told you, Gary, I told you a minute ago, that's one man I can tell you, we may not have agreed on everything, we didn't see eye to eye on all things, but we appreciated each other and we worked together to make the best we could of any situation. He was a pleasure to work with, he was a good man, and he had a good heart. And that's all that I ever needed to know that I could work with somebody.

It's about time. This is the beginning of what we should see for any individual the caliber of Councilman Darren Lee. Council, Mayor, citizens, we are doing what's right. That's the bottom line.

So y'all know Darren Lee, that was my brother. And the reason that I sit on this council is because of Darren Lee coming to councilmen. Councilwoman Carolyn Robbins, Tim Thomas, Keith, and Clifford Holmes. It has been truly an honor to be able to bring this to fruition. Dr. Dallas Anderson, she reached out to me and recommended that role. She said, hey, this is a good way to honor him. And I thought it was a great idea because his church was on that role. And he has changed so many lives, not just here, but at that church. And he has saved so many souls. So I most definitely feel like that is the perfect place to put his name, right to the building where he changed so many lives and so many souls. And I have to recognize the 100 black men back there in the back. I am so happy that my brothers came to show support for this renaming of the road. A lot of people don't realize that Darren and old school back there, they were the ones that really pushed for that organization to come to fruition here in Warner Robins. And I know that it hasn't really been publicly discussed, but I know that the President, Mr. Tim Walker, I know I did see him back there, that he was working to start a scholarship fund through the 100 Black Men in honor of Darren Mr. Darren Lee. So with that being said also, I want to make sure that I be the first to pledge $5,000 to that fund to recognize Darren Lee. He was a... Darren Lee just, I mean, he was just a great dude. If you knew him, you knew him. Ben had some knockout, drag outs, but he taught me well. He raised my consciousness. He made me a better person. So I thank the family for sharing him with us and allowing me to serve with him. And I'm just so happy that this has come to fruition. Thank you.

And so much has been stated. Oh, go ahead, Councilman Mack.

And I may want to add, not for the sake of time, in short, I personally would not be here in this position if it were not for a private phone call that Darren Lee made to me when he made the decision to step down. He sat in this chair before I did, and he asked me because he saw something in me that I didn't see for myself. And he encouraged me, he groomed me, and he taught, showed me the ins and outs. And he taught me what to react to and what not to react, what to react to and what not to react to. And he remained a mentor and confidant to me all the way to the end. So I love him and I miss him dearly.

All right. So much love has been shared about the late Councilman Darren Lee. So I hope the family really does hear how much he meant to each of us sitting up here. I didn't get to serve with him in his official capacity of Councilman because He'd already departed his seats before I got here, but he is one of the reasons I sit here. So though he had many plans to do more and go further in elected office, and he certainly had every ability to take on the highest seats possible, that he ever set sights on. So though he couldn't continue his race, he put some people in place as his legacy. And we will continue to move and do what needs to happen in our community because he believed in us and we believed in him. And I am so elated to be able to sit here with counsel who many of them served with him and approve the renaming of a street to pay him homage for what he means in our community beyond city council. His service went beyond these doors out into the community and our hope is that through the efforts of the 100 black men and the scholarship that more men, more women, more individuals are inspired by his service and continue to do great things across our, not just our city, not just our county, but our state and nation. So with that, we will close out our discussions and call for the vote. All those in favor of renaming Wright Drive in honor of the late Councilman Darren Lee, please state aye and raise your hand. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. Congratulations, and thank you so much to the family. Thank you. Good to see you, Mr. Maddox. Another great pillar in our community. Thank you. Are you all going to take? We need to take a photo. We need to get a photo, family. Don't leave too fast. Family, come back for a picture. They're trying to skip out.

Amen. Good writing.

So I go right here, three, two, one.

Thank you. three two one Amen. Thank you. I mean, I can reach out. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

So, yeah, I tell you, we should do a big Sony one. We're going to go back tomorrow.

Thank you. oh sure

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right. Sorry we had a little excitement with honoring a late council member for the city of Warner Robins. Thank you for being patient as we were able to honor his memory with item number 10. Now we will move on to the remaining two items. Item number 11 is a resolution for Triscapes LLC to be discussed by Councilman Holmes.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I bring before you a motion to approve the resolution of the Mayor and Council of the City of Warner Robins to authorize Mayor La Ronda W. Patrick to execute the attached standard form of agreement between owner and design slash builder for renovation at Simpson Peavey Park and North House and Sports Complex between Tri-Scapes LLC and the City of Warner Robins, Georgia, whereby Triscate LLC will provide those services as outlined and per the terms of the attached agreement. Again, I move for the adoption.

I second.

Motion by Councilman Holmes, seconded by Councilman Lashley. Any discussion?

Yes, Mayor. Thank you for finding this money, repurposing it to a very, very great purpose. This park was built when I was a kid. That's how long it's been there, and really not much has been done since then. So really, really exciting. Thank you, Mr. Poser, Mayor. Let's get this thing going.

Mayor, I'd like to make a comment, too, if I could. I've been screaming this for a long time, and I'm glad that it didn't fall on deaf ears that we are doing something about that area over there, some old stomping grounds. and i say that i got a lot of memories over there and but i just think that that area has a lot of potential a lot of potential to bring some sports tourism into our city i know griffin one time i sat they have baseball tournaments all the time in their town and from a friday to a sunday They bring in anywhere from $1.5 to $1.7 million into their community just by a little old baseball tournament. And that's a lot of money coming into our community. Not only that, taking some of that money to put back into our other parks and other areas around the city. And I'm so glad that we're venturing off into this part. I think our city is going to be blessed because of this. Not only will our citizens be able to go to a nice, beautiful park over there, we'll see the benefits all over our community because of the project. And so thank you, Mr. Boozer, for pushing this through. Mr. Drinkard, for hearing me from day one about this park and doing something with it and all the potential that we have over there on the north side of town in that area. And I would love to see this be the start of a lot of more businesses coming back over in that area and building that area back up because it can be a very, very beautiful place over there. So I pray that this is the start of something great over on the north side of town.

Amen, Mayor. And I'd also like to say that this is kind of like a, I'm proud to be a part of approving this resolution. This is a full circle moment for me as I played my first Little League football game at Peavey Park. It was a dual purpose park back then. Football games, softball, baseball, practice every day, fought Nats. When Nats get in your helmet. I used to think it was the Nat capital of the earth, but so I'm thankful they were able to renovate it. Hope we can do something about those Nats. Nobody else has to endure that trauma.

I'd like to say one quick thing. I am super excited about this. As a young person, I grew up on softball fields. You can attest. When I found out that park was built, when it was built, it looked like it was about 80 years old when I was five. But hey, it takes a while, but we're getting there. And I appreciate all the work you're doing on it. This is the first steps towards exactly what Charlie and I have been pushing for for a while. And just the community involvement and just the improvements for the rec play itself, not to mention what we could bring in from the outside, is amazing. And that is a direct pipeline of cash coming into a community over there that needs it. So thank you again.

I just want to say that I am super excited about it. Me growing up, watching my father's play, watching my father play, watching my uncle play over there, then me being able to play out there for so, so many years. So it's a brush of fresh air. And I'm looking forward to what's to come. But I will say this, Mr. Pugin. That's in this court. It's a lot of space right there. So we need to start utilizing it for something. All right. And I appreciate everything that you're doing and all the work that you put forward to getting this accomplished and listening to mayor and council just making this happen. So I truly appreciate you. Thank you.

All right. Any further discussion? All those in favor, please state aye and raise your hand. Motion carries unanimously. Item number 12 is a resolution for our destination marketing services agreement amendment to be discussed by Councilman Bibb.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I make a motion to approve the resolution to authorize Mayor LaRonda W. Patrick to execute the destination marketing service agreement between the City of Warner Robins, Georgia and the International City Tourism Board, Inc., whereby as the International City Tourism Board Incorporated will serve as a designated destination marketing organization for the city of Warner Robins under the terms and conditions of that agreement. I'll second it, Mayor.

Motion by Councilman Bibb, seconded by Councilman Mack. Any discussion? All those in favor, please state aye and raise your hand.

Aye.

Motion carries unanimously.

Madam Mayor.

Madam Mayor. Yes, Councilman Curtis.

I would like to make a motion to amend my motion 46A.

Okay. There is a request to amend a motion. Do you have anything else to add?

Yes, I would. Okay. Okay, I motion to amend the motion of the rezoning of 6A to amend the stipulations as to better fit and enlarge the size of the better to, let me do this my way right here. So I would like to amend the motion to the existing natural buffer that exists along the property lines abutting the residential district shall be enhanced to provide a year-round OPEC screening to result in a complete buffer tolling 50 feet instead of the original 25 that I said.

I second that motion.

I'm sorry, with no other changes.

I second the amendment.

Okay, there's a motion to amend, and there is a second by Councilman Holmes. Any discussion?

Great call, Mr. Curtis.

All those in favor, please state aye and raise your hand. Aye. Motion carries unanimously. All right, we have concluded the numbered items on our agenda. Now the floor is open for citizen comments. If there are any citizens here who'd like to make a comment about something in general, not just the numbered items of our agenda, you have an opportunity to approach the podium. Please be sure to state your name and address for the record. You will have three minutes on the clock at the top of the rotunda. And please note that council and I are listening to you, though we may not respond. The floor is now open for general comments.

Good evening. I'm Bob. I live in Bonaire, Georgia, 121 Larkspur Lane. And first of all, I'd like to thank some of the city council. I have talked to Mr. Holmes. I talked to Keith the other day. We had a problem in our little subdivision, and the county engineer was coming out. And because I know Keith, I called him. I said, why don't you come out and watch with me and he came and we got the situation going in the right direction and I do appreciate it and I have talked to the mayor about some things before but I better get to my three minutes there's a problem that keeps riding on me and I don't think people realize they doing it and it's throwing trash out And you know, it's easy to say, well, the kids are doing it. But it's really not the kids. Because I watch too. And I see grown adults. I see people working in the neighborhoods. They throw trash out. And you know, I think we should try to make Houston County look good. And I actually think the city of Perry, Warner Robins, Centerville, Houston County, should get together and put it on their little Facebook and say, hey, help keep the area clean. You know, I was down in Florida a few weeks back, and I saw a big sign up there, keep America clean. Why not say that? You know, I hate seeing trash being thrown out. And I remember this fellow right back here, the one who works in the park, he was picking up trash one day, and I said it shouldn't be that way. We should take a little pride in that. And I have talked to the city council about it, boy. And the last thing I'm going to talk about, jobs. And, you know, we have jobs here in Houston County, Robbins Air Force Base, Houston County Hospital over here, the Emory Hospital over here. We got this place here as a job place. We got Frito-Lay, we got Purdue, and all these places. And one of the things they ask you when you go in and put in for a job, and they don't test you for it, is drugs. And somehow or another we need to do a better job in encouraging kids not to take drugs. not the participating drugs. And I don't know how to do it because I drive a bus and I take care of little sudden writers and I'll tell in a heartbeat. I said, keep your nose clean, get you a good education so you can get a good job one day. I want people to get a good job and I'm sorry I've gone on with my time. But anyhow, that's just something I wanted to share.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Bob. And thank you for your service and your sacrifice. And thank you for serving our children on the school buses. God bless you. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Bob.

It's only going to take me a half a minute. I wanted to say thank you to the mayor and the council for hearing our pleas. We have lived in Carter with subdivision. I have for 50 years. So a lot of people move, but we've stayed there. We've improved our homes. We've loved the neighborhood and we feel like you heard our cry about protecting it. So thank you from me and from all the people represented. one question the buffer on south amanda is that to be 30 feet all 50 the all buffers okay okay we were just we're a little conflicted we what didn't know what the final answer was on that

Thank you, Ms. Moore.

I think 30 feet.

Hi. Blessings to each and every one of you. I just want to say thank you. I also want to tell you that I am the first peer-supported recovery home of its kind in our city. And I just want you to know that you're supporting something that has been a long process. And I'm extremely proud of it. My family has put their heart in it. And we have invested into this program for over 15 years in this city, one family at a time. And now we're trying to help more. at one time. Veterans, people that have experienced trauma, that have experienced addiction, that have lost touch with their personal family and building a family and support system from the ground up. So thank you.

Man, before you get down, I want to tell you something. Thank you again. And I also want to say this. If there's anything in the world that I can do for you, anything personally out of this position, don't hesitate to call and ask. I'm all for you. Going to start praying for you. Going to start praying for your ministry and praying for the people that come up under you. That God will radically change their lives. and radically turn them back the way God intended them to be, not running after lifestyles of the flesh, trying to find and fix hurts and habits and hang-ups in their life, but they will pursue God, and they will find him, and it will radically change their lives. And so if there's anything in the world I can do for you, let me know.

Yes, sir. I'll receive that. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Farnham. Will there be any others?

GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND COUNCIL. MY NAME IS TIM BERGEL AND I LIVE AT 202 SPANISH TRAIL. FOR THE RECORD, I SUPPORT ROAD MAINTENANCE AND APPRECIATE THAT WE ARE GETTING THINGS DONE. BUT I DO HAVE SOMETHING TO ADD. WARNER ROBINSON IS PREPARING TO REPAVE 2.26 MILES OF CORNER ROAD BETWEEN WATSON BOULEVARD AND RUSSELL PARKWAY AT AN ESTIMATED COST OF $901,084. The project documents instruct the contractor to restripe it to match the existing markings. But repaving is maintenance, restriping is a design choice. So painting the same lines back in the same places chooses the current design without asking whether it remains the safest and most useful design. Council has approved the contract and I'm not asking you to undo that, but the contract allows modifications and completion by November 30th. So what I'm asking is that a qualified firm should evaluate whether the striping plan is the most useful before those markings are placed. As far as I can tell, no alternative was considered So we're renewing an important neighborhood corridor potentially for another decade or more Without asking whether this public space base could be used more effectively a quarter road is approximately 38 feet wide divided into two 12-foot travel lanes and a 14-foot center turn lane, which is a lot of width and which is what causes some of the speeding on that road. And that width could potentially be allocated differently while preserving two-way traffic and creating an all-ages active transportation connection. By that I mean a practical options for short trips, walking, bicycles, e-bikes, and other low-speed devices. not just recreation, but whether a child can reach school, whether someone who cannot drive can reach work, and whether families have an alternative for using a car for every short trip. So I'm not presenting an engineering design, obviously. I'm just asking that the city, someone from the city pick up the phone identify a qualified firm and ask the question, hey, with 38 feet of right-of-way space, can we do better with that? Can we get more use out of that space? Because once we repaint the road to its existing condition, we're locked in for 10 years or maybe even a lot longer. beyond that quarter road that that corridor could connect to the potential green street corridor whenever that uh actually is able to happen which would connect neighborhoods schools businesses commercial circle robin's air for oil for space would also help the success of operation reawaken so last week councilman home councilman holmes emphasized that the city's approach to LMIG funding saves money, and that's worth recognizing, but a road project return cannot be measured only in dollars. Street design affects vehicle speeds, crash severity, and whether people outside automobiles have a safe place to travel. Saving money matters, but if we have the opportunity to save lives, well, I'm sure we all agree that that would be a better option. So I think we need to maybe just pick up the phone and find out if we might have missed something.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Burgle. Will there be any others?

My neighbors already said thank you, so we really appreciate y'all listening to us. I'm going to tell you something you've probably never heard. By trade, I'm a journalist, and I've sat in city council, county commission meetings for years and years. Something I never really saw was the working together of the city and the county, and I'm a firm believer in saying kudos when you do a good job on that. You guys did a great job on that with the the light. And tonight hearing, I can't remember, was it Councilman Curtis? Maybe you said we will be getting with the county and making sure these people are not going to be aggressing onto your county road, residential road. That shows that that's progress. That's huge progress. Let me tell you, it didn't used to be that way. And for y'all to reach out to the county, the county reaching back at you and actually getting things done. Kudos. Thank you.

Thank you. Will there be any others? Going once, going twice, the door is now closed. Now is the portion where we will open for council comments. But before we do that, I do want to share a new member to the Warner Robins family who is here. We have a new administrative technician for the city of Warner Robins who sits right upstairs. And her name is Lindsay Wiggins. Lindsay, stand up so we can all welcome you to the family. So Lindsay works upstairs with my office, along with my executive assistant, Christy Hall. And we're so happy to have you with us. She comes from municipal. She worked with municipalities previously. And I'm going to mess up the city. Lions. I keep trying to make it a county. Is it a county, too? Is there a Lions County in Georgia? Oh, well, Lions, the city of Lions, that's where she comes from.

Home of Vidalia Onions. Vidalia Onions are actually grown in Lions. They're productions in Vidalia, but the good onions come from Lions.

Wonderful. Well, yes.

Hey, Mayor, he ain't lying.

Well, we're just so happy to have you. We just wanted to welcome you to the family. As you see, we're a family. You keep hearing that over and over today. And I hope you see it and feel it. But welcome. OK, now I took a little bit of counsel's time. I'm so sorry. So we're going to be starting with Councilman Lashley today.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I had the pleasure of meeting your previous boss, or some of the guys down there at the city council and everything from Lyons. And they told me that we would be insane not to hire you. And he also told me that if there was ever a problem to call him, he'd come up here and fire you himself. But I said, well, I don't think we're going to have to get there unless you're going to try to steal her back. And we ain't going to let that happen. So welcome aboard. We're glad to have you. A couple of things. I only got two things I really want to talk about. The first one, all of our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Jerome Stevens. His wife, Ms. Shirley, passed away this past week. Known that family for 40-something years now. You will never find better people on this planet than them. And she has definitely gone home to be with the Lord. We know she is there. The other is this past weekend over in Columbus. This is the second year in a row that you know you weren't going to get away without a cheer comment. Houston County sent two girls over to Columbus State College to compete in the cheerleader of the year. There were approximately 600, it was over 650 athletes that competed in this. It's not just cheer skills, it's interview skills, community service, all aspects of life. And for the second year in a row, Houston County has two young ladies that made the top 16 in the state. Those girls are Olivia Darnell and Caitlin Lyons, and they did a wonderful job. So yeah, two years in a row, we got two in the top 16 out of several hundred cheerleaders in the state of Georgia. And with that, I would like to say I do enjoy working with y'all. And today was an exercise in working while we were up here.

We almost forgot to vote on something. We were working on something so hard over here. But we did it.

We persevered. But, again, it's always a pleasure to be up here with you guys and gals and everybody on staff. I appreciate you all so much. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Holmes.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Chief Wright, thank you so much for coming before us with a strategic plan. Someone said earlier, everything you talked about, the majority so far, the majority of everything you talked about during the interview, you are implementing. And we are glad to be a part of helping you make that come true. Darren Lee, I've known that family since he was a little bitty child, the family period, but Darren in particular. And I was pleased and proud when Darren followed me on to the city council. He was the second Afro, third Afro-American to sit on this council. Huh? I'm getting there. I'm getting there. Thank you. Darren was straightforward. He's always been straightforward. His grandmother, Ms. Ada Lee, I saw him disagree with her. I saw her disagree with him. And he held his ground. Grandmama, this is the way I feel. We got some good people here. You all have some good people around this table, that sit around this table here, and we're proud to be a part of it. Quarter Road. During my brief tenure as mayor of this city, we brought people in from DOT, from the State Department, and everywhere else, and we rode Quarter Road. We wanted to widen Quarter Road. We could not. It was suggested that we put the blame. That did not happen. What happened, there was some change. Representative Larry Walker, Senator Stanton, that bus together, asked the same thing. So it's not that it has not been addressed. That was several years ago. Maybe it's time to address it again. I just want to be sure I mentioned that.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Curtis.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Again, I just want to reiterate. I know I said it in pre-council, but Chief Wright, it is an honor to have helped bring you here to the city of Warner Robins. Everything that you said that you was going to do, you're doing it. And I truly appreciate it. And you will always have our support. So keep up the good work. Continue doing what you're doing. And at the end of the day, we got your back. Thank you. PV Park. I am so excited about PV Park. I can't wait to get out there on those softball fields and just hit the ball out of the park. I'm just so super excited about it because you better believe it. It's an honor to see that come to fruition.

Also,

Thank you for the lapel. Thank you so much. But I'm gonna need a Northside one. I'm gonna need a Northside one because my son will be attending Northside High School. So, yeah, that's a struggle, but life is lifin'. But I really want to say that I appreciate each and every council member for voting to a role after Darren Deeley. But I most, I mean, Darren was that guy. He was that guy. I remember one time Darren, you know, he majored in English, but he used to write stuff up. He would bring it to me, be like, Larry, what you think? Like, man, I don't know. You don't got the degree in English. Not me. Bring the math stuff to me. But I most definitely want to thank Keith Lawrenson and Mr. Holmes for believing in him and believing in me. So I thank y'all so much for putting y'all trust in me and being able to sit in this position. It's been truly an honor to work with both of you guys. And I'm looking forward to many more years of working with you guys. whether it's here or outside of this environment. So thank you so much.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Mack.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. First of all, I'd like to say thank you to the Georgia Municipal Association for recognizing me for the Certificate of Excellence. A lot of hard work went into this. This is my third award, as when we take training, I don't take the training lightly, and I took as many courses as I possibly could, and I chose the easy way out of taking the three-hour class and four-hour classes, because I wanted to learn as much as I can to try to bring that knowledge back and improve with the motive to implement whatever I could learn in this city. And this one in particular was when the lock-in for the leadership, Knoxville leadership training where you had to do a simulation of cities and you had to break it down by class with the poor group, middle class, upper class, and you had to mitigate and help each other out. And it was such a collaborative effort with other cities around the state of Georgia. The things that I learned in that class, I implemented into my daily walk. And I even teach some of the things that I've learned through these courses on my daily job with the supporters that work on my team. So this doesn't go lightly. So I just want to say thank you to the for all the training and allowing us to enhance our knowledge and being better elected officials because the people of our city have trusted us with their votes and we are nothing more than liaisons of their concerns none of this is personal for me I am a liaison of the people and I tried my best to adhere to their cry so thank you to that also the gentleman in the back The only thing that come to mind about littering, the one thing that made me afraid to litter and throw trash out the window of the car was something that was old school and some of y'all may remember it. And that was that a Native American that would be on TV and that tear would fall down his face. I just couldn't disappoint that man. Throwing trash in the street. So we need some more stuff like that because that was a silent reminder of how precious our land is for our kids. Is it okay to call him Indian? That Native American Indian, whatever you want to call him, he... molded a lot of, he molded a nation about throwing trash on the streets. So we need something like that. So thank you for your concern as I recognize it as well. Chief Wright, standardization at its best. Appreciate you. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman. Councilman Bibb.

So I don't litter today because of that same commercial. Really? Yeah. And I don't start wildfires because of the bear. That's right. So thank you, Mayor. Man, there's so much to say. Speaking of jobs, Robbins Air Force Base is having a mass hiring in Perry. You can go on to the Warner Robins Air Force page and find out the dates and times for that.

So is it August 11th?

I think it's August 11th in Perry. Please tell your friends, your neighbors, and people that are looking for employment, they're going to hire a bunch of people. So make sure you show up. Some is direct hires too, correct? Direct hires, yep, direct hires. So just go over there, and what I say is sell yourself to the U.S. federal government. Another thing I'd like to say is I love and enjoy working with this council and mayor and everybody up here. This meant something to us, big time, this pledge. I'm glad we recite it and we say it once a year to remind ourselves that we may not see everything eye to eye, but that's what makes us great. It's not what makes us terrible or tears us down. It's what makes us the best city we can be, having different opinions and different views. It's not something that should divide us. It's something that should bring us together. And there was a lot of heartfelt decisions that we heard today and comments that we heard today of heartstrings, and I heard them. And sitting in this position, I got elected to do what's best for the city of Warner Robins and the citizens of Warner Robins. And I always have to keep that in mind. But along the way, like I say, we learn, and your neighborhood was a result of us learning as we go along and as we continue to go along on how to work with the community and listen. You may see sometimes out there that we're not, but we are really listening to you, and we appreciate your feedback because we are here to make our community better together. It's tough to be put in a position where you have to consider all things all the way around. And some decisions are harder than others. And I will say that. I'm going to say one more thing and I'm going to close. Words matter. What you say and what you do matters. Words can edify or they can tear people down. Words can heal or they can kill. Words can illuminate somebody's life and give life to them and words can give death to somebody. When evil comes at us as a city and tries to attack the flesh in me wants to attack back but seeking the Lord in his face in trying to honor my father in heaven trying to honor the God that I serve and I gave my life to in 1997 tells me to be gracious tells me not to render evil for evil He tells me to uplift and encourage. He tells me not to defend, but to be quiet. And I'm going to tell you something, it's hard. Only if you knew. People get extended a lot of grace that they don't know they're getting extended. I promise you that. And some people ought to be blessed that I am saved. And I know him. And I know him personally. And that has changed my life. Because only if you knew. I'm telling you. I love the Marshalls. Casey makes this statement in the next season. And I'm really excited to see it. And they're holding Casey at gunpoint. And he said, we know all about your family from the Yellowstone. And Casey turned and said to him, evidently you don't know all. But I want to say this. I choose not to attack and I choose not to defend because I want to tell you something. He is my defender and I want to warn you of something and I want you to listen to me very closely. I am a child of God. I belong to him and he belongs to me. And you would probably much rather face my wrath than his wrath. And so today, I'm going to start to pray the fire from heaven. As Elijah did. To tell you, choose this day who you may serve. Because you can't serve two masters. And if you're going to live in evil, boy, my God's big. He is big. And you're going to get a lot of grace in the coming future that you don't know about.

Amen. Can I get an amen if you're in agreement?

Amen. Thank you, Councilman. And Councilman Lawrenson.

Well, Mayor, you did it again. You made me go after Charlie, but that's okay. I still love you. Hey, we're very fortunate. I've been doing this for quite a few years now. And if you look around, not just at our city, but other cities and counties, municipalities, it doesn't always work quite this way. And, Mayor, I think you set a great tone, and I think we follow. This civility thing is way more impactful than most people realize because you can really accomplish a lot together when you care about each other and you don't take things personal. Really, I don't believe a single person up here has an individual agenda. and a selfish motive. And I can't always say that that's always been the case, but I'm telling you, it's a great group of people that work good together and we can work out our differences and really try to do what's best. Even to the fact that the way we look at each annexation, each rezoning, is way more critical than we've ever done in the past. And that's what you must do. Because when you're dealing with things, when we make these decisions, it impacts our friends, our family, those we love. And, you know, you got to do what's right. You got to do what's best. And it's hard sometimes. But I think when we come together and just something as simple as Larry, you know, taking that buffer and another 25 feet, you know, I wish I thought of it. But I'm glad you did, and I applaud that. So I'm glad we were able to do things like that. It really makes this job a lot more fun. And I'm just really glad to be a part of it. So I also want to tell everybody to say your prayers for the first day of school tomorrow for most of our surrounding, our county and surrounding counties. And so we're going to have kids getting on buses. And Lord, pray for them teachers, especially them classroom teachers. Lord bless them. and uh these little children getting on the buses and and all that uh miss town was talking about the traffic just pray that everything goes well and people are safe and one of the hardest things really about the first day of school or really the first week of school is is getting them there and getting them home safely it's so difficult because it's you know sometimes it it doesn't look organized but there isn't a great attempt to keep it that way and a lot of times these little kids they don't even know their names let alone how they're going to get home. So it's really a tough job, that first week of school, especially for the babies and the kindergarten and first grade. So please pray for them, and we just pray they have the best year ever, and hope we can just all enjoy watching these children grow up, whether they're playing ball at a new park or working hard at school. We can love them and be proud of them. Thank you. God bless you.

you councilman i just love babies he was talking about the little little the little pre-k students and kindergartners and i remember my baby being that small now he's nine he's still my baby but i miss the little ones um so have a great back to school for all the littles Tomorrow, and I'll look for all of the pictures and video. My son doesn't start till next week, so have a little bit more time. I love my job. I love working with my brothers. There's not much more I will say at this moment. I said a lot through the council meeting, but I'm just thankful that we really truly do act as family. It makes it as if we're not working. But to Pastor Bibb, what he stated, My family is from South Georgia, Thomasville, Georgia, to be exact. And there's something I was saying to myself when you said about the evil, and I wish a certain person was here, but we all know who he is. I wanted to say, instead of ditto, the way my people say it is, what you say. What you say. That is so true. So thank you for sharing that. And we just pray for those who wish evil among those who only are here to help. And, yeah. Yeah. We do the right thing and we try to stand by that. But with all of that, we are done with our comments, but we are not done with council. You all could be done because you don't have to stay for this next portion. And I wouldn't recommend that you do. But we do have something else on our agenda, which states executive session to discuss real estate and personnel. With the proper motion, we will exit for such.

Mayor, I move for us to go into executive session to discuss real estate and personnel. I second that, Mayor.

By Councilman Lawrenson, seconded by Councilman Bibb. All in favor, please state aye and raise your hand. Aye. Motion carries. You're exiting for executive session. We do not know if action will be taken when we come back from executive session, so you're welcome to tune in virtually to see what may happen when we come back. You all have a great evening. We'll see you at the next meeting.

Go for it.

All right. We're back from executive session with the proper motion.

I make a motion to adjourn from executive session. And I second.

Motion by Councilman Mack, seconded by Councilman Lawrence. And all in favor, please state aye. Raise your hand. Aye. Motion carries. We're back from executive session. We have no action to take at this time. Meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.