3/4/2024 Meeting Recap
For your information, state law requires our city clerk to post the action items from the meeting within two business days of the adjournment of a meeting. O.C.G.A. 50-14-1(e)(2)(a). Action items are the issues upon which the Council has decided to take some sort of action via a vote.
A full list of the action items from the meeting can be found here. You can see the recordings of the meeting here. The meeting is in three separate videos - workshop, regular session and the return from executive session.
While you can see the documentation all of the action items via the above link, I wanted to highlight and discuss in detail some of the motions that were and were not considered.
If you have feedback for Mayor and Council directly, you can e-mail us.
Regular Session
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4. Councilman Carn moved to approve the Special Called Meeting Minutes dated January 22, 2024, with correction, seconded by Councilwoman McKenzie and motion carried; Packet Page 10, line 27 – s/b adjacent Packet Page 11, line 71 – “under the ordinance passed” to City Attorney Packet Page 12, line 96 – “Ma’am” to Councilwoman McKenzie
5. Councilwoman McKenzie moved to approve the Regular Session Minutes dated January 16, 2024 with corrections, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold, Councilman Carn and Councilwoman Arnold opposed, Councilman Gay abstained, and motion failed. Packet Page 93, line 344-345 – s/b Chairwoman with Councilwoman Packet Page 106, line 919-926 – Needs to reflect what was said.
6. Councilwoman McKenzie moved to approve the Regular Session Minutes dated February 5, 2024, with correction, motion died due to the lack of a second.
We need to get all our minutes approved. We are several meetings behind at this point. At our retreat, we discussed doing a summary of minutes instead of verbatim; I think that’s a good direction to take considering the clerk records each meeting and our meetings are video recorded as well.
7. Councilman Gay motioned to extend citizen remarks for James Walker, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold and motioned carried. (All voted yes)
8. Councilman Carn motioned to extend citizen remarks for Tonya Austin, seconded by Councilman Gay and motioned carried. (All voted yes)
9. Councilman Gay motioned to extend citizen remarks for emailed comments, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All voted yes)
As I noted in an earlier post, I believe we need to be consistent when dealing with public comment and the extension of time for those who choose to speak.
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11. Councilwoman McKenzie motion to approve the 2024 Federal Legislative priorities for formal submittal to the Federal Delegation and appoint Councilwoman McKenzie as representation, seconded by Councilman Carn and motion carried. (All voted yes)
We had a good meeting with our federal representatives and their staffers on Thursday. We highlighted our desire for funding for lead service line replacement and more.
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14. Councilwoman McKenzie moved to approve the adoption of Resolution No. 2024-03 amending the budget for Fiscal Year 2024 for the General Fund, Special Revenue Funds and Enterprise Funds, seconded by Councilwoman McKenzie, and motioned carried. (All voted yes)
This was an important step in maintaining good fiscal policy. We have been trying to pass a budget amendment since last fall.
15. Councilman Carn moved to approve the adoption of Resolution No. 2024-04, to impose a 1% Municipal Option Sales Tax within the City and to direct the municipal superintendent to call a special election for the purpose of submitting the question of the imposition of the tax to the voters of College Park, seconded by Councilwoman McKenzie and motioned carried. (All voted yes)
This issue will be on the May ballot. An explanation can be found in my preview of the meeting.
16. Councilman Carn moved to approve the first 4 dates of the proposed Mayor and Council Departmental Budget Meeting Schedule for Fiscal Year 2024-2025, April 9th, April 10th, April 16th and April 17th with proviso to modify the last two dates April 18th and April 23rd , seconded by Councilwoman McKenzie and motion carried.
While our finance director offered to come back with a comprehensive list of dates that would work for everyone, Councilmember Carn declined to accept that proposal. The body opted to approve the first part of the list and we’ll work on getting dates for the last two meetings.
17. Councilwoman McKenzie moved to approve the adoption of Ordinance No. 2024-05 the boarding of doors and windows, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold and motion carried. (All voted yes)
I gave some of the highlights of this ordinance in my preview of the meeting. I think this will give us tools to keep track of vacant properties and hold property owners accountable.
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25. Councilman Carn motioned to reconsideration of the MARTA Contract, seconded by Councilwoman McKenzie and motion carried. (All voted yes)
I am thankful my colleagues reconsidered their earlier decision regarding the Finding the Flint project for a number of reasons. This is an important regional initiative that will help to improve sustainability and water quality for our neighbors downstream. Also, Congressman David Scott had designated Finding the Flint as one of his fifteen earmarks in the FY2024 federal budget, portions of which was passed by both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate late last week. If we had been in a position not to accept this round of funding, it would have led to concerns about our capacity to receive additional federal funding down the road. I am thankful to Congressman Scott for his leadership on this project and the commitment from his office to see this through. I reached out to his office for assistance on this matter and like always, they proved to be an invaluable partner to deliver results for College Park.
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Executive Session
30. Councilman Carn motioned to pay $199,000 for settlement to KDR Consulting LLC, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold, Councilman Gay abstained and motion carried.
31. Councilman Carn motioned to pay $60,000 for settlement for Yisrael litigation, seconded by Councilwoman Arnold and motion carried. (All voted yes)
When these agreements are executed they will be available, like most of our other documents, via an open records request. You can find out more about what records are available for request and how to make an open records request here.
