Committees of Council Meeting
Video Transcript
Duration: 65 minutes
Speakers: 13
Alright. Good evening, everyone.
Good evening, and welcome
to the committee meetings for 05/13/2025.
The elected body,
president, mayor Kurt Wilson, council member, Christine Hall, council member,
Allen Sells, council member David Johnson,
council member Sarah Beeson, council member Julie Hills,
council member William Orphan. I am Randy Knighton,
the CAO, city administrator, along with the chief legal officer, mister David Davidson, and Michelle Miller, the executive assistant
to the council and deputy city clerk.
Welcome everyone again, and the purpose of committee meetings are for the city departments to convey
information,
to the city council and to discuss initiatives listed on the published agenda,
as well as provide updates of essential information
on the operation of city government and by ordinance. The committee consists of the mayor and council as well as the city administrator who serves as the chair of the meetings, and this is a public meeting, not a public hearing.
Therefore, while we certainly do welcome members of the public and those who are here,
we do not generally take comments at committee meetings unless specifically authorized by the mayor and council.
And public comments and questions are, of course, received
on the second and fourth Monday of each month in our mayor and council meetings and also the fifth Monday in open forum.
I will add a note, this evening.
Our committee meeting will take place our next committee meeting will take place on Tuesday, of course, May 27
at 05:00PM,
and then will be followed by our mayor and council meeting that will be on
Tuesday,
May 27
at 07:00PM.
That, of course, is due to the Memorial Day holiday, which is on Monday, May 26.
We do encourage all of our residents, of course, to engage our online platforms and reach out to our team members.
You have any questions regarding
city government
and also access the web service portal to report
any issues or concerns and visit roswell365.com
for a calendar of events.
The first item on the agenda
is the approval of the minutes for 04/29/2025.
I'll entertain a motion. Motion by council member Beeson, second by council member Johnson. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor?
Right. That passes
unanimously.
The second item listed on the agenda under administration.
Consideration of an ordinance to amend chapter three
of the code of ordinances of the city of Roswell to permit and regulate special event facilities to allow for wine
to be brought into a special event facility under certain conditions and for other purposes.
Mister Davidson.
Thank you. This is ordinance,
currently under our ordinance, we provide that a special events facility can have a consumption on the premise,
license to sell alcohol.
This is to clarify that a special events facility
could be a facility
that is rented out,
for classes.
And those classes, if they serve a dinner,
they would be allowed to allow somebody to bring in a bottle of wine to have with their dinner. And if they don't finish it, then they could
cork it, wrap it, and take it with whatever they didn't finish.
It also provides
clarity that
cooking classes would be considered
part of the special events facility.
We recommend moving this forward.
Any questions of council yes. Council member Hills. Just comments. This is a entrepreneur
who is putting in a cooking school, or cooking classes
over on the East Side in,
East Village
in, in the commercial spot over there. And, looking forward to offering a new opportunity for people to enjoy themselves on a night out, a group of ladies, a couple's group, or whatever, a golf team, you know, whatever. And and come in and do a cooking class and then to be able to enjoy wine to go along with the meal that they prepared during the class. So very excited to support this young entrepreneur
and, her endeavor over there in East Roswell. Maybe it'll spread over to the West as well, but, this is a great way for us to be able to offer something to make that business,
much more appealing and sellable. So I support this all the way. Thank you, council member Hills.
Any other any questions? Any comments?
Seeing none.
Oh, yes. I'm sorry.
Council member Markland.
The the individual that that council member Hills is speaking about
came into city hall, gave us her business plan, gave her gave us her vision.
She has everything very much in line, very well laid out, very thoughtful.
But the best thing that I took away from from her presentation is she as an individual already has a porting license as she is already a bartender. She's already gone through
the the rhythm role of of getting all those licenses in order. So she understands the the significance and the importance of treating this the right way. Okay. Thank you. Thank you.
Any further comments?
Seeing none, we'll entertain a motion.
Motion by Council Member Hills, second by Council Member Northland. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor? All right. That passes unanimously
as well and we'll move forward.
Under community development,
item
number three.
Item number three,
consideration
of the retaining wall for 199
Grove Way, Roswell Housing
Authority.
Good evening, mayor and council.
This item is the retaining wall that is proposed to be at the development for Roswell Housing Authority at 199
Grove Way.
A consideration for a retaining wall for the Roswell Housing Authority redevelopment on the south side of Grove Way. It will be visible slightly from Oxbow Road. The wall ranges from seven to 16 feet and will be mechanically stabilized earth.
Wall comprised
of concrete blocks, aggregate backfill, and geosynthetic
grid.
The retaining wall will be screened by trees planted 12 foot on center,
along the outside
towards Oxbow Road. The design review board approved the DRB case on 10/01/2024,
and the LDP for demolition permit was issued on 01/30/2025.
There was a mistake in the packet
with the year.
The retaining walls over six feet high need approval of mayor and council.
This is a enlargement of the site plan. The retaining wall is on the bottom of the site plan just
above the
the trees that are 12 foot on center depicted
along the bottom.
I
think I might have
a pointer here, but I'm not sure.
Right along in there.
So the RHA development is flipping the site where the the building used to be here, the parking used to be in the front along Grove Way. The site's now flipped with the building in the front, the parking to the rear, so this retaining wall will be along this side.
Here's the profile rendering
of the retaining wall. This is depicting the building. This is the parking area with the lighting,
and it shows the shed of the lighting,
the retaining wall,
the fence there, and then there'll still be a large slope before Vickery Landing and Oxbow Road.
Okay.
This is the the plan prepared by the engineer of the profile of the wall and a picture depicting the type of block that will be
there. And again, there's going to be 12 foot on center hollies
along the wall.
They grow two feet a year, and they will grow in a short amount of time to exceed the height of the wall.
And that's it. How many questions? Thank you, miss Payton. Appreciate your presentation.
Questions, comments, yes. Council member Hills.
Thank you, mister Knighton, and thank you for that presentation. I actually was in the DRB meeting, when this was discussed and not a gaslight. Is there not a low vegetation with the holly trees, or is it just the holly tree screen? The holly tree screen is along the grove way profile, but there are some lower,
plantings
to the east side. Okay. That that's what I was remembering. And there was a lot of conversation from the,
the design review board about making sure that this was covered, that it was screened well, that the consideration was given to the residents that live below
that. It's a steep grade if you've ever driven Oxbow and look up at the the land behind
those,
townhomes right in there. It's it's pretty steep. I mean, it's a tall look up, and I was concerned as well because I know that's a a bigger word in the city, retaining wall. So it's it sits in a way I believe it's going to be aesthetically pleasing. I mean, as much as you can have that with a retaining wall with the screening with the holly tree. So I'm I'm in full support of this, and delighted that we're be we're able to do this redevelopment
and have it,
display in a beautiful way. It'll actually dress out some something nicely on the back of these, townhomes
because you can kinda see where well, now you can't see Pelfrey, but you used to be able to see the the housing authority there. So it'll it'll definitely be an improvement, but, I'm not trying to say you won't know that there's a retained retaining wall there, but I think it's gonna be done very well, and I'm in support.
Alright. Thank you for that.
Hills. Any further comments or questions regarding the item?
Seeing none,
we'll entertain a motion.
Motion by council member Hills, second by council member Johnson. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor?
All right, this item moves forward. Thank you.
Item number four under community development
for now.
Consideration
of a final plat,
20245338,
at 955
Myrtle Street and The Groves At Myrtle Street. Miss Payton?
Good evening again. This is the final plat for The Groves At Myrtle Street.
The timeline on this project as it's reached this point are that the elevations and retaining wall were approved by the design review board in June.
The preliminary plat was approved by planning commission in March.
The retaining wall,
proposed was taller and came before mayor and council
and was denied in January.
The developer went back and revised their preliminary plat, which was approved by planning commission in February.
The 30 townhomes and retaining wall were proposed,
predominantly brick townhomes with accents of metal.
Again, the 2021 DRB approval with conditions
as stated here, and in June,
a garage door administrative
alternative finding approval,
the design review board process.
Here's some renderings of
the townhome elevations
as proposed.
The preliminary plat that initially went proposed 30 townhomes. It's an RX mixed use,
zoning.
Townhomes are allowed by right. There are 15 front loaded,
townhomes facing Bridgecrest, 15 rear loaded, facing Myrtle, with underground detention,
above ground pond for stormwater, 15 guest parking spaces, and a 14 foot wall around the detention pond. There were three to nine foot retaining wall along the full length rear of the property, and that was approved again by planning commission in March.
And this depicts that plan, and the yellow
up there is the retaining wall wall that was proposed.
The retaining wall went to mayor and council proposing up to a 14 foot retaining wall along the eastern property line at the detention pond.
It was denied in January,
so the applicant redesigned the site to reduce the retaining wall to under six feet, which did not need mayor and council approval and resulted in a loss of three lots
and a revision to the preliminary plat.
Post wall.
So the revision of the preliminary plat reduced from 30 to 27 townhomes,
12 will now be front rate loading
facing Bridgecrest Road, 15 rear loaded, underground attention,
above ground pond for stormwater,
guest parking down from fifteen to eleven.
The detention pond wall reduced
to a maximum of five feet nine inches,
and the retaining wall along the full length of the eastern property line reduced to five feet nine inches.
February
2024,
that plan was approved by planning commission.
And And you see the retaining walls here.
So now the project reaches the final plat stage, which needs mayor and council approval. It matches the revised preliminary plat and the approved LDP.
There are the 27 townhomes, 12 front loaded, 15 rear loaded, with underground detention and above ground pond for stormwater,
11 guest parking spaces.
Both of the white the walls have a maximum height of five foot nine inches,
and again, final plats need an approval by mayor and council.
This is that proposed
final plat document.
Are there any questions? Alright. Thank you, miss Payton. Any questions, comments from,
American council?
Alright. Seeing none,
do we have a motion to move this item forward? Motion by council member, Northland, second by council member
Beeson. Any further discussion?
Seeing none all in favor?
That passes.
Yes. Council member Vease.
Before we move on to the next item,
for the standby general engineering contract with Kimley Horn, I assume that's the next item.
Flagging that I'll need to recuse myself as I currently have a standing contract with Kimberly Horn. Alright. Thank you. That is noted for the record.
Alright. With that notation,
item number five, consideration of a task order
under the standby general engineering contract number 20240013,
RFQ 24066DashE,
with Kimley Horn for the project management infrastructure investment planning, economic and land use planning for the 2045
comprehensive growth plan in the amount of
$298,500
Ms. Alexander,
Heather. Thank you. I'm just going to do a couple of quick introductory comments and then Ms. Alexander will go through a couple of slides to remind everybody what we're doing on the comp plan. And just, I want to thank the Mayor and Council for the opportunity to bring this forward.
Michelle will go over kind of the technical requirements, but just want to open the comment my comments up with,
we've really done
some work with this scope and with
Michelle's team on lining and aligning our comprehensive growth plan with our economic development strategy. And Michelle will cover some of the history over the last few comprehensive plans of why we are moving forward with this level of strategy. But we are really excited about being able to line up this comp plan strategy with our economic development strategy and then also our investment strategy of our infrastructure.
And that alignment will help us continue to refine the investments
that we need throughout our communities. You think about impact fees
also with our tax allocation district and how we want to invest in different projects in and around the community. This will be one of the planning tools that we will use
to move that forward as part of our strategy over the course of the next really eight to nine months of planning cycle and into 2026.
So just wanted to open that up and Michelle's team and Michelle herself will kind of outline
what we're doing next with our consultant team, but also just want to say that they've done a great job getting us this far and then looking forward to meeting our statutory requirements, but also using this plan from a strategic perspective here in the City Of Roswell. So thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Alexander.
Thank you,
baby. Mayor and council.
We're excited to come before you and ask permission to move forward. I know I've met with you a couple of times to talk about our approach to the comprehensive growth plan, and we're focusing it on your economic growth,
which is different than some of your prior comprehensive planning efforts. So we met with you a few times. We finalized the scope with the economic development team, with Daryl, with Steve with Bob,
of course with Jeff,
leading us
and,
also, we met with several of the directors who have chapters in the comprehensive plan. So you have directors who have existing master plans
that will be refined to meet your vision on your economic growth strategy. So we wanted to make sure everyone was owning their piece. So it took a little while to put the scope together. You'll see it's a little it's detailed in a way that often is not.
We, do have already an on call contract set of contractors for general engineering
and investment,
planning.
We
looked at three firms of that that have already gone through the competitive RFP bidding. We saw three who are qualified with both both comprehensive planning, economic planning, and,
infrastructure planning, infrastructure investment, which is a big piece of this. We interviewed two firms, and we're coming before you today. In your packet, you see a proposal from Kimley Horn to move forward with a task order.
Kimberly Horn is a subcontractor
of KB Associates. That's the firm that worked on your TAD,
and has the one of the most, intense,
resumes of doing,
economic and financial
analysis. And so we're looking towards a scope, as you see, early fall
to have, cost benefit modeling,
added to what Bob is already doing for the city and augmenting all of the work that your team has already been working on.
We plan to have the plan drafted and an implementation work program,
by the by December. It will still have to go through the Georgia
state. The Department of Community Affairs blesses it.
And just a reminder for folks
that this document is your legal authority for making your land use decision. So if you don't want it and you wanna say no, let's make sure the policy is clear where you wanna say no and where you wanna say yes. And also to help you,
identify, prioritize infrastructure. You got a long laundry list. We got a lot of infrastructure projects.
But how do we the most strategic to meet your vision,
for where to make those investments and prioritize. And this the document is supposed to communicate your vision,
your vision.
And,
it's required every five years, and it's required also for our impact fee program. It authorizes us. So you can't have an impact fee program
if you don't have, a comprehensive plan along long term growth plan. It's also required for our zoning authority. If you wanna have a zoning authority, you have to but really, if we focus on how the economic development framework is gonna direct this comprehensive plan in a way that your prior plans
do not have such detailed direction. It's gonna marry your land use with your infrastructure investment. And you might recall your, the diagram from your strategy that you adopted as policy of the notes. So really looking to focus on the notes
and specific
investment and, analysis and business analysis for each of those as a real estate
consideration.
We still have this it doesn't make you dizzy. There's a big big,
smorgasbord here of items. They all still have to be covered in this comprehensive plan. So you have a team that's gonna make sure we cover all the requirements,
that are important, but they'll be all in the service
for how they meet your economic growth
vision, the vision that you've laid out.
So how do all the other components feed your vision?
I wanted to share with prior comprehensive plans might have spent about a third of your budget on engagement and community engagement. And that might mean, like you see here, our our land use or development map. That's a big fixation and a lot of comprehensive plans to have the development map. So you'll see, however, since 2011
and 2016
and 2021,
it hasn't changed very much. You have some of the principles of a vision that says,
keep our quality of residential. Let's focus on those those corridors and our employment and activity centers.
So
the the plan isn't going to focus on having drawing and and going through charrettes the way we have done in the past on that level. Since you've had that and the community has spoken, the community regularly
speaks
through this comprehensive plan on what the land use the overall vision is. What we haven't gotten and what this budget will focus on are details. I'm not gonna walk through all of the scope,
but this is the summary of the scope, the one, two,
three, four, and five. That's the major scope
of the economic analysis,
the real estate plan, the cost benefit analysis,
and it really builds we're gonna have them build out scenarios so you can do your trade offs of how you wanna help help you decide,
your infrastructure
investment. Where is gonna make the where is it gonna make the most sense? We wanna optimize
all those, existing master plans. You have a transportation plan,
parks and rec plan. So let's let's optimize from all of those, and we can get rid of the ones that, no longer serve you. I know you went through an exercise early in your administration to identify plans that were no longer appropriate or didn't serve you. So let's just keep on the books and clear it what your policy is so staff can execute what your vision is. So we're focusing on the notes,
as as your economic strategy has focused on in this plan, in this scope, and we recommend moving forward with the task order and and and working with Kimberly Horne.
Alright. Thank you, miss Alexander.
Questions or comments?
Seeing
none, we will entertain a motion. Motion by Councilmember Northland, second by Councilmember Johnson. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor?
Alright. This will move forward.
And thank you very much. And I would certainly underscore the fact that this is a monumental step in how we approach,
planning projects such as this and also how we approach
selection of,
potential vendors.
And going forward, we we will be very intentional about how we scope out projects for vendors
that align with the vision of the American Council. And so as we as team members and department leaders
craft,
RFQs and RFPs,
as we craft RFPs and RFQs,
those will be aligned and need to be aligned with the priorities, mayor priorities, and the vision of the mayor and council because ultimately the vendor works for the city of Proswell
and, will ensure that they,
are operating, as such. So thank you very much,
and I know that a lot of work went into this, and so we appreciate your efforts there. Alright. Thank you.
Item number six,
consideration
of a short term vacation rental resolution and ordinance,
amending section
10.1.
Yes.
Mister Davidson, chief legal officer.
Thank you. I'm not sure where the resolution part came, but this is just a maintenance.
Basically, this will regulate
the short term rental of,
houses
and accessory,
units like garage apartments and stuff like that, and
it will require somebody to get an occupational tax certificate.
With that, they'll be required to be inspected by the fire department to make sure it's safe.
And they will also be required to have an owner owner or agent
available for contact 247,
in case there is any issues.
And we removed it, moving this one forward.
Thank you, mister Davidson. Questions or comments from the elected body? Yes. Council member Beeson.
So this was an item that I wanted to bring forward and it's
I would consider low hanging fruit at this time. Many other municipalities
require a business license to operate a short term rental,
not only for the making sure that you're capturing all taxes side, but also from the perspective of the inspections.
So for example, recently in the news, you might have seen the,
there's a headline of, I believe it's a baseball player. His son passed away from, carbon monoxide poisoning while staying in a short term rental unit.
Also, there was,
over the last year, I've received,
several residents reaching out to me from their neighborhoods of coach buses pulling up in their neighborhood,
dropping off church groups or cheerleading groups, and you have
30 some odd middle schoolers staying in a single family home,
those homes have not been inspected at this point in time. So God forbid there was a fire and emergency in those homes or they do have a carbon monoxide leak. We can't, at this point in time,
carbon monoxide detector, functioning smoke detectors, that the windows aren't nailed shut, that ingress and egress is fully functional,
just for the safety of those who are actually staying within those units.
Its intent is not to necessarily curtail short term rental units at this point in time, understanding that Roswell,
is currently growing our hotel population in terms of being able to add more hotels to our mix. I know that we're trying to bring two to the downtown area online,
to be able to support tourism in the area. But until that happens, we obviously host a lot of weddings and events here. We wanna be able to have people stay here. We just want them to be able to stay here safely.
And then you will note at the end of the ordinance. And so this was walk through with community development department, the finance department, and the legal department in terms of implementation and enforceability
and the actual mechanics itself. I guess, Michelle, did you wanna walk through that?
Sure. If you'd like. It's it's goes through several different departments. Obviously, the legal is taking the lead on the ordinance itself. It'll be it'll reside through business registration,
but it will depend on, safety inspections from fire marshal.
And then as we implement the code itself, we need to work with communications. We have a campaign
started. We met with communications about how we will first inform of those who are current hosts
of the new ordinance. You will have a six month David built in a six month period from when you if you choose to approve it to when the first January one twenty twenty six, the first purse person has to be registered by. So So we'll have a six month time to execute a campaign, first identify and have discovery, and then conduct the communications campaign, and then work through business license, finance department who will be updating,
applications
and their procedure as well as the
contact list. They're the twenty four seven contact list is really important.
Sharing the information of who locally is available both for emergencies and for nuisance,
calls and so that we have that shared across
PD,
fire, 9 one one, and code enforcement along with, obviously, the the keeper of the keys is is through a business registration.
Thank you. Alright. Thank you, miss Alexander.
Questions, comments? Yes. Council member Hall.
Thank you.
I I see that there are there's a provision
for violations if somebody,
has too many people or is too loud.
How are we going to
understand if if people are complying and registering their Airbnb and their rental
with with
this program. Is there a way to monitor that?
Sure. I'll I'll mention a couple of things. One, people advertise, of course, all the time for Airbnb's, for VRBs.
That is gonna the enforcement arm is always the most difficult and challenging, in my opinion, regarding,
monitoring,
such activity.
And so we have to be we'll have to be diligent about,
one, there'll there'll be complaints if there's something out of order.
Two, set up annual inspections,
for those who are registered.
And then three, we will have to,
likely conduct some operations in terms of monitoring these sites who have that advertise in the city of Roswell.
And I have in a previous life
known of sting operations,
for certain facilities,
who advertise as VRBs.
And so, I I do think that we will have to employ a number of different tactics to ensure that these,
those who operate
are legal
and are compliant with,
our codes.
Councilor Marcelles. Yes. I just wanted to confirm. I I believe it is the case that, we have asked, like, VRBO and Airbnb. They will not give us lists of
the locations in the city. Is that correct?
Okay. I'm not aware of it.
They they did this. That is what, Georgette, your director of finance, has reported that should they have requested it, and they cannot give it out. They say they cannot give it because the address is because of privacy rules.
When they
submit their taxes to us, they submit a report
showing the value, but they do not itemize the, addresses.
Joe was going to work with them and get get in touch with them to talk about them at least
informing their host. So if they can't give us the information, we're gonna we're we are requesting
that
the two well, three Expedia as well. There's a couple separate,
uniform you,
umbrella organizations
to give the information our information
to the hosts as well. So to help us
inform folks that are on their roster,
like anyone that they're collecting taxes from, they need to send an information from us about our rules and regulations, but I'm not sure how far we've gotten with that. So so it just I've just let me see if I unpack that a little bit. You're saying that
they give us
a report, let's say VRBO or Airbnb gives us information
about the number of bookings, and I assume the rates and the
the the the gross revenues
and thus
the,
taxes. Is that what you're saying? Tax numbers. Yes. The dollar amount. The, the dollar amount of revenue and the percent of hotel
motel tax that we currently collect from. But insufficient detail to verify. Sufficient detail to verify. So that's part of our follow-up. And in particular, no way to know
the addresses that we're talking about. Not easily,
but what we've done in other places and what we've timed out of looking into the map. So each each day each day, you'll can go onto a map and identify within our city borders any listing that's available. When you zoom in, you typically can identify
the location sufficiently enough that, there's a a good percent of recovery.
Okay. Thank you. Yeah. It's just a little labor intensive, but Mhmm. Worth it. Council member Reese, Lisa.
To council member Salz's point, at this point in time, it's almost an honor system of us just getting this list of, like, okay. We trust that you're paying the right amount of taxes.
But once this is fully opted in and we're able to confirm at least the vast majority of the short term rentals, we should be able to cross reference that to see if we're capturing all of these tax dollars that we should be capturing.
Customer
sales.
You go. You know, I'm I'm gonna talk a lot. I'm not I'm not so sure. I hear you. But what what you will know is this is how much money we got, and then you'll have those that have opted into the program. So and it's really not this isn't to my mind, this isn't so much about the occupation,
occupancy taxes. It's about the nuisance factor in neighborhoods. That's what this is really about.
And, I'm I'm happy that they will send us money. That's super duper. But that that only tells us that there's activity.
It doesn't tell us where it is, and it doesn't allow us to
really, what we're after is the
the the oversight
ability and in particular the ability to shut down,
like, where you've been has got there's one house in particular that
literally it's, you know, tour bus drop off site with, thirty, forty people spending the weekend.
So other than noise ordinances, I don't know. You know, people sending me emails about it. I don't know how we know about that. So so I don't I I'm not so worried about the taxing
as I am talking about how we find folks. And so is there any recourse? And you're you're are you saying Joe was trying to
get them to proffer the information? Is that Excuse me. Yes. To at least get a little bit more information. Georgette also has said about, asking them for at least, if not the addresses and the number of units, so you can do a number of people. So we can at least get the data
underneath it. But we would still have to do that legwork to be finding,
the addresses.
Yeah. Thanks.
Thank you, customer sales. Council member, Northland.
This, this can't come fast enough because we are getting and gearing up for the World Cup. Mhmm. Once World Cup shows up, the world shows up, and they're gonna be right here. We have got to have this data ready to go as as we were trying to arm our police and emergency fire
nine one
one, they have to have all the correct information for us to be able to make sure that that we can respond in a timely manner.
So absolutely. Yep. You are correct, sir.
Yes. Mayor Wilson. It's an interesting
proposition
that the burden falls upon the people
as represented
by the city government Roswell that the burden falls upon the people
to use its assets and resources and
dollars
to verify or justify the activity of a commercial business.
It's a fascinating proposition,
and really is illogical
at
best,
not including the other considerations. And, Sarah, I appreciate you bringing this up. I know this is an issue in multiple
townships and
communities across The United States.
Nobody wants to,
nobody likes to get into the legislation
business
of wanting people to use their personal resources to make a buck,
particularly when there's a need.
But there's also a commercial application and aspect and commitment and responsibility to a community.
There's also,
there are places to do business and there are places not to do business. And that's one of the reasons you have zoning codes and and cities set those up carefully to say you can do these kind of businesses.
Do this kind of business in this area. You can do this kind of business in this area. You can't do this kind of business in this area. And
towns and communities like ours go to great lengths,
trying to set this up. So this is an interesting dynamic, which is organic.
And it does seem to be troubling that the burden is on the people,
us,
to
legitimize
sales numbers,
and to validate those and for us to use our time and resources to determine whether or not those are legitimate.
And that information is not offered up freely by the
transaction. The people who are committing the who are doing the transaction.
It's a logical. Doesn't make sense.
And I would imagine not every township and community
probably would take have the same reaction I'm having. Like,
you have a burden to demonstrate proof of your transaction
to the people.
It's not the people's business
to create the resources
and use its assets to legitimize your
your transaction. That's illogical.
And I'm sure that there are some townships
or municipalities, United States Of America that probably said,
you know, we're not good with that. We're not going to use our assets and resources to verify whether or not you're doing business with us and where you're doing business.
So I really appreciate Sarah bringing this up. I know that a lot of communities struggle with this. And
the problem is it has a lot of an antennae to it.
And so it's like a lot of things. Once you get into it, how serious do you wanna be about it?
I will offer up. I certainly support,
with the the work that you guys have done. I appreciate Sarah
and Sarah bringing this up. I'm not so sure, though, that shouldn't there shouldn't be some additional
thought,
brought around this issue.
And because,
I will tell you as I was speaking for the people,
I don't think that's people's burden
to find out where you're doing business.
I don't think it's the people's burden to have to verify,
validate because with other businesses, we have means and ways of validating your business transactions and accepted
business forms and practices
to do that.
So why would this be an exception?
I understand it has to be it's organic and there's some unique dynamics about it.
But,
I don't know. I think we may need to add some coupling to this.
I recognize that there's a need in the community,
but there's also a need in the community
to regulate it from the standpoint is people do not want
large parties
of people coming in
as their next door neighbor in their neighborhood,
and then sign up for that.
And,
and they're counting on us
to do something about that.
So to me, it sounds like there's a lot of pieces that we need to additionally link up on this issue.
Yep.
Councilwoman Sells.
Just to clarify
the level of involvement we expect. I mean, I see this, but
so every
person
who,
sorry.
Every person who has a rental, right, no matter one night or three hundred sixty five nights, we're saying they have to have a business license. Is that our position?
That's what this ordinance would require, a circuit. So so they would have to have a business license. I bet you most people who do VRBO do not. They do not. Exactly. Never never course my brain. Nope.
So there there's some communications around that, like, okay, if you're,
So what transpires if they don't get a business line? Yeah. Yeah. Well, and
that that's essentially what this is. This is a new classification of business license that they're required to obtain. But I don't say I don't want to get signed. I
get signed it. Alright. So what? Yeah. Then the sign oh my god. I don't I don't have a business license. I keep I keep writing on money. Dollars a day. Oh my
god. Thousand dollars a day. How much is it? A thousand dollar left to a thousand dollar. Can we enforce a thousand dollar a day fine?
With the judge.
Does it? Do we have an understanding with the court on this? Can you
I like it as long as the court the court's on board from an enforcement perspective.
Okay. Let's get let's get clarity on that from the court's perspective because I like it.
I guess you're gonna violate the law, then we have an enforcement measure. We have to make sure that the court is gonna enforce it as well.
Okay. So so a business license is required.
An inspection is required before
one
has the first guest?
Yeah. So the inspection will be required in order to obtain the license. Okay. So they will need to have the inspection done by the fire department and, essentially, the six month window that we've allocated
over the between now and the end of the calendar year will also give people who are operating,
the short term rentals the ability to get with the fire department, obtain that,
inspection, and then have that ready to go for the licensing process in 2020. So there's no grandfathering?
It will start in 2026.
So, essentially, the the grandfathering is is we have six months to get everybody up to speed in preparation for the new licensing requirement that will go into effect in 2026. But you do have, I think, to Alan's point, let's be clear about that. It comes in effect January 1,
but you're building in some time
to implement the system. That's correct. Six months or at least three months. So the reality is is you wouldn't start
applying. Let's just talk cold turkey. So everybody understands. You want to start applying
one.
You'll start doing inspections
if this passes. Right? You'll begin laying that groundwork. So if this passes in two weeks, you'll begin starting the inspection process, which by the way, is a whole nother discussion.
How much resources
do you have to use in the city? How
many businesses are we looking at? How much time are we looking at in terms of this? What's the juice for the squeeze, right, from the standpoint
of of this process? Sure. But going back to the practical, this passes
in two weeks.
It becomes effective 01/01/2026.
The reality is, is you will not actually start applying fines
until the second quarter of twenty twenty six.
Six. That's correct. Council member Beeson.
So to clarify as well, I think one of the,
logistics that was discussed,
at least with the the legal group when we were trying to determine the six month window,
was reaching out to Airbnb,
Vrbo, and the major renter companies or the the third party
to get them to notify
those who have,
properties listed on their websites or through their portals,
issuing a letter to them saying you need to notify people who list on your website that this is now a legal requirement in the city of Roswell and that it needs to be implemented by January 1. And how did they react to that?
It's it's just a letter that they would be be No. No. No. I'm talking to v r did VRBO agree to do such a thing? I heard back the RBC right now. I did not heard back
the RBC at this point. And the yes yes or
This isn't uncommon. I mean, other municipalities
have gone through legal enforcements before.
In fact, Airbnb has an entire portal for municipalities
to be able to operate and notify people. So I think understanding that this isn't uncommon, in fact, what's uncommon is the fact that the city of Roswell is essentially the Wild West with not regulating any of our short term rentals.
So
just just I'm sorry to be so obtuse about some of this, but, you know, this is a new body of law Yeah. Which
the
feedback I get is that the citizens are absolutely on board with us, you know, writing this in. There there there are lots of people who are concerned about it. I think the the people are actually a lot more riled up than we are. Oh, I agree. Yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty riled up. I'm just chill, baby. I'm chill.
Okay? Just feel. It's a lot of space. Yeah. This is
but,
so so what the the the inspection are we looking at the commercial space inspection level? Are we talking about you know, so let's just say I'm I'm, you know, granny sales here, and I'm Yeah. I've got a room that I rent out. So so what am I gonna have to put a sprinkler system in, or what what are we talking about here? I'm looking to see if we have any fire
folks here.
But my understanding is that the classification
is, alternative,
accommodations like a bed and breakfast. So
it's not, it is a level of commercial activity. So some of the basic fire requirements,
but it wouldn't be because of your occupancy load, your your determination that the house is for residential and guests, and that's what this is treated as, a travel
alternative travel accommodations.
That's like the Nikes code for it.
So that's what fire marshal would determine the level of their inspection. So it honestly, when I asked about how much time would it take,
Wolf,
chief Wolf's
indicated between, you know, maybe twenty minutes,
thirty minutes, or there's something complicated and depending on how many rooms. So that that was the amount of time. And also this six month window is so say we have 230
listings at one snapshot in time, 230
listings, and we go through the communications process. So we would that's we are anticipating
for operations if you pursue this,
to spread out those so that they make the most sense precisely for the workload and managing the volume. I mean, I I think
communicating this out clearly and saying here's all the requirements. I mean, it's it's gonna be,
you know,
an moment for
for some people. So that's probably a big deal. Relying on your hat shot communications team. Absolutely. There you go. Thank you. Well, Mayor Wilson. I mean, there's an ongoing practical issue is that the relationship
these businesses are gonna have, they have a business license, so they have a direct relationship with the city of Roswell.
Not
they are represented, you know, the maybe they have a listing through VBR VBRO
or Airbnb
or through another agency.
And those are friend basically franchise organizations,
right, that are
in
demand aggregate. That's right. But
the relationship
at the local level is with whoever's renting the house
out
and getting a business license.
And that I would dare say that there needs to be some kind of method methodology
and correction so that the city of Roswell,
the people of Roswell will have a direct relationship and understanding with whoever it is
is renting out their home
for a day or week or whatever under the VBRO or Airbnb
or,
whatever
these terms are.
Because we can't we don't have a relationship with VBRO.
We don't have a relationship with Airbnb.
They're not doing business per se in the city of Roswell.
They're an as you said, they're an aggregator, but they're not doing business in in. Well, and quite frankly, we're an impediment to their business model. I mean, they would just as soon as not be having this conversation.
So so I'm completely on board with that. I will say that a lot of times. So some of the phone calls I've gotten have been from HOA presidents.
How help us stop this. So, you know, just as a matter of outreach, maybe that's a great way for us to go about it is going to the HOA's and saying, look, you guys have, you know, called out about this, and here are the things that it requires for somebody to do this. And, you know, so you knock on the door and say,
here's what the city says about this. Would be a, it seems like a a reasonable approach. Yep. Thank you. Council member Hall. Just to follow-up on,
the the code questions. So on the inspections, will there be a load limit maximum maximum
maximum occupancy,
that will be prescribed?
You wanna cover that? Yeah. That's covered in here as covered by the fire code. It's
10184F,
and we worked with the fire department on this directly.
K. Thank you.
10184F.
So they'll be they they'll basically be told based on your house, you can have 10 people
sleeping in it or eight people sleeping in it, and that would be an easy
violation to
identify.
And that'll be part of their inspection and it'll have to be posted as well as part of their inspection. So that if there's a violation,
then it's there just like you would as you walk into a building or a traditional commercial property.
Mayor Wilson.
I I'm gonna come back to this. I mean, I did I really didn't wanna talk on this tonight because it's there's a lot.
It is not the city's business. It's not the people's business to get involved in a franchise model or to interpret a franchise model.
There are a lot of
interesting legal questions around that. But at the end of the day, the relationship between
the franchise or or the aggregator is between them and whoever they decide to license with. That's a licensing arrangement between two separate parties. The city has no
no interest in that arrangement.
The city only has interest in the arrangement of who does a transaction inside of its locale.
Right?
And what's interesting about this is this is saying I'm reading this and says we're basically waiting on payment
between the aggregator paying whoever has the residents.
Right? To me, that's not our again, that falls outside the purview
of our legal
what should be our legal,
responsibility
of, hey,
you did a transaction in the city of Roswell.
It falls under a commercial umbrella.
There's a transaction that you're responsible for payment for. Whether or not you collect that or not,
that's your challenge. That's with your relationship with the aggregator or the franchise
or that's a whole different relationship.
Your relationship
is that you did business inside the city of Roswell.
And that transaction has a certain value, which you should be able to legally demonstrate. If you can't legally demonstrate, you have another problem. Mhmm. Like, it's your responsibility
to legally demonstrate your transaction.
It's also your responsibility
to legally pay for that transaction based upon whatever the province says the responsibility for payment is, which I think we need to come up with, by the way.
And I'm not sure what it is. What it is what is VBRO and Airbnb?
So they fall into the 8%. 8% hotel motel that's already set. 8%
should be a responsibility
of that I fall. Individual transaction.
Not waiting on VBRO,
not sorry. V VRBO or Airbnb or whoever the aggregator is.
The transaction's been made. The transaction should be verified. The transaction we're not we shouldn't have to verify the transaction. Yep. Transaction should be verified by whoever's executing the transaction,
and payment should be responsible
at that time.
Like any other transaction made sooner.
Sales tax is a perfect example. Right? I'm responsible. I come in. You gotta pay the sales tax instantaneously.
It's the same it's the same kind of, you know, same kind of model.
A commercial transactions happened. Somebody's responsible for paying the commercial transaction
at that time.
So if you take it name a commercial business. Right?
They're responsible
at real in real time for taxation.
They they get to collect it, right, for a week's time in some cases, and then they pay it at the end of the week.
But you basically are paying it in real time. And it doesn't matter whether or not you got payment or not. You're responsible for whatever the tax is based upon the transaction.
Why we would why would we make a distinguishment?
Yeah. I'm just asking, like, why do you make a technical distinction?
I gotta push back on that. But,
for one thing so so VRBO is doing a couple of things.
So so they're
not going through VRBO
or Airbnb,
absolutely. They are responsible to send us that. Yes. But
when you go through
VRBO,
Airbnb, you pay through there. So they are collecting that 8%. I get it. And it's just like Expedia,
hotels.com.
They have to submit hotel tax to us also.
So it's the same.
What kind of timetable?
So I thought, yeah, I'm not sure how often they submit it. Is it monthly or quarterly? Monthly. Monthly.
And so you are absolutely correct that if I'm not putting my stuff or renting it through
a short term rental
aggregator,
then I am responsible for sending the city 8%. And there's a good tax concept behind that, which is,
that the funds actually change hand. Correct. The Correct. It's not on an accrual basis. It's a cash basis. Yeah. Right? So so the individual who's who's renting the house through VRBO, they do I mean, what are they doing? They're doing marketing.
They're doing all the transacting and collecting, and then they're remitting the net to the the individual, not the gross. Right? So
that's that's the challenge. No. I get it. I'm just saying the transaction still occurred,
and the aggregator But it's not taxable unless it turns into cash. That's a pretty tried and true
US law
position. You you don't have taxes on unrealized
transactions. So so I I hear what you're saying.
There was a there was a there was an event that occurred that's a taxable event, but if no money changes hands, it's then the tax is foregone. Just like if you,
get stiff for a bill, it's It's not gonna be you're not gonna pay taxes on that. You're not wrong, but you don't have any leverage with the aggregator.
I get that. That's a different problem. But I I agree with what you're saying about look. Our relationship is with that person, and in in particular around the business license issue
and and the inspection issue and violations of of zoning and code and stuff like that,
clearly, that's us.
I think it's a little bridge too far if you think they're gonna pay the cash.
First of all, they're not gonna get them that money from VRBO.
I mean, they're not the VRBO holds that, so they'd be paying it twice.
Right? So so that's a challenge. I don't I don't think that's gonna happen. So so this was the same
circumstances
that happened with the hotels and motels with Expedia,
hotels.com.
We joined in a lawsuit several years ago against hotels.com,
which included Expedia,
and it included Airbnb
and the Airbnb.
And it was a class action lawsuit in the state of Georgia by all the cities and counties to collect
that 8% tax or what who each city has their own, but ours is 8%.
And so
we got back payments, and we received checks for probably
five years.
Back payments on the hotel motel tax that hotels.com,
Expedia,
Priceline,
all those
ones that are the aggregators,
we're not collecting.
And so we were able to collect.
Because they're in the chain of custody of the cash. Because well, people were paying them to stay in a room.
So that's what happens. They're paying Airbnb.
Airbnb is passing the money on to the owner after Net. The fact. Right. Almost like another Wayfair case.
Right.
You and and you're right. And The demand aggregator is just using somebody else's inventory. Yeah. Absolutely. 100%.
But but but if you think about it
I mean, it is there's some complexity to it because requiring the person who has the inventory to have an individual business license. Yeah. Yeah.
And to be individually inspected, which we should.
Yep. And we need to bring control from the system from a system perspective to say,
hey. You can't have 12 people at the house.
Right. Where what's it? Ten, eight. It depends on the size of the house and how it's yeah. If you're a little bit And I think that's our regulatory
interest in this matter. I mean, I I the taxes like I said earlier, the taxes
matter to me, but what really matters is is that we have a real and waxing problem
in people doing this in neighborhoods. 100%. That's that's the real regulatory issue. But from a from an oversight perspective The fact that they won't give us the names That's a problem. That's disturbing to me. I mean Well, you can't you it's it's not you use the word fair. Right? It's not fair and equitable to require certain things from some businesses
to say, hey. Other businesses, you get a pass because we just can't we can't make you comply. And that's not a great reason. Like, I can't make you comply, therefore, I'm not gonna require talking about on the license side or on the tax side? Talking about in the information side. Exactly. Oh, oh, okay. On the tax side. So Yeah. Since I can't make you comply,
but I'm gonna make everybody else comply. But since you're too I can't figure it out. You're gonna do what you're gonna do. I'm just not gonna mess with you. That is
that's unjust. They I'm I'm quite certain they have an array of lawyers. Oh. His job it is to make the to to take the ammo stick in these folks of cities like us a 100%.
Doesn't they don't differentiate
between the hotels.
So, like, if we called Expedia and said, okay. Well, how many people stay in at the Holiday Inn? How how much tax is that? They would say we don't.
Here here's your money. Shut up. Go away. Well, why wouldn't you? I mean, if you can get away with it. Right? Yeah.
Interesting.
Council member Beeson.
You started all this. I am good.
So to address Mary Wilson's concerns,
obviously, there are some logistical
situations to to work out on the short term rental
intermediary side, which I guess would be Airbnb, Vrbo, all those.
This is really just supposed to be the initiating factor with being able to do a little hate for it of just requiring the business licenses. And as well to reiterate that we're not the first to do this. A lot of municipalities require the business license so that you can inspect.
Are you good with moving forward with this as is? Oh, I'm just giving you a hard time.
I do it to you enough, so it's only fair. Okay.
Alright.
I need
liquor for this conversation.
But yes.
Okay. I just wanted to make sure that you're I was playing Sarah on TV.
I have the tables a turn. Okay.
Alright.
Any further questions or comments? Yes. Councilwoman Johnson. If you own multiple homes with, like, let's say, I had an LLC to rent it wouldn't be one business license, but every home would have to be inspected per home. Correct? Yep.
Alright. Yes. Mayor Wilson. I will make a motion
to move this forward.
Alright. Motion by Mayor Wilson, second by Council Member Beeson. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor? Alright. That passes and moves forward unanimously.
Thank
you. Item number
seven
under
under
infrastructure.
What
do
we
call this?
Under infrastructure. What do we call this? Infrastructure.
Okay.
Consideration to a water contract with Federal
EC LLC for the Briarstone stormwater pipelining project
in an amount not to exceed $424,050
with a budget authorization of $466,455.
Mister Watson. Thank you, mister Knighton. Good evening, mayor and council. The purpose of this project is to line approximately 2,400
linear feet of perforated pipe.
It was installed on the right of way using cured in place pipe methods,
to avoid damage to infrastructure due to sinkholes that are common when this type of pipe is installed.
The city of Roswell advertised the project on the city's website posted on Georgia procurement registry. And on March 20, we had six bids that were received
that range from $424,050
to 1,089,384
thousand and $90
with the low bid being submitted by Federal EC.
Federal EC was found to be responsive and responsible
to perform this work.
They've done numerous projects for the city throughout the years,
and do very quality work.
We recommend awarding the contract to Federal EC in the amount of $424,050
and also request an amount of $42,405
to be allocated,
for unforeseen circumstances.
I'll take any questions that you may have. All right. Thank you, Mr. Watson. Mayor Wilson.
What,
I I just, motion to move this item forward. Alright. Thank you. Motion by mayor Wilson, second by council member Northland. Further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor? Alright. That moves unanimously,
and this item will go forward.
Thank you, Mr. Watson. Thank you.
Under finance,
consideration,
our Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Bill Godshall.
Item number eight,
consideration of an estimated property tax rollback rate.
Mr. Godshall?
Thank you, mister Knighton.
This is a requirement by Fulton County to provide our estimated pullback rates,
pursuant to
Georgia legislation that was passed in 2024 and updated in 2025.
This estimate is nonbinding,
and will be updated when county issues its final tax digest.
So we, have a May 31 deadline to report our estimated rollback to Fulton County,
and it needs to be certified
and
approved by the elected body.
Thank you, Mr. Dott show. Mayor Wilson. Just I would like to thank Fulton County for
mandating this for all the 15 cities in Fulton County to have to publicly
in advance
say what their rollback tax rate is. Such a gift from Fulton County. We thank you so much for doing that. Estimated.
Estimate. Estimate.
Estimate rollback tax rate. Estimate. Thank you so much, Fulton County. We really appreciate this. Yes. Absolutely.
And, of course, this is not Nonbinding
as well. Nonbinding.
But,
but, yeah, that's important. Nonbinding.
And Well, gutted, of course, we'll be doing it's nonbinding. It would be advancing its,
property
its property tax rates well in advance as well, letting everyone know.
I'm being facetious. Okay.
Alright.
Any questions, comments for, CFO Gotshal?
Seeing none, all in favor or I'm sorry. Motion.
Motion by council member Hall,
second by council member Johnson. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor? That passes and moves forward unanimously.
Seeing there are no further items for the committee meeting of 05/13/2025,
we'll entertain a motion of adjournment. Motion by Councilmember Beeson, second by Councilmember Johnson.
All in favor?
All right, that passes unanimously. Thank you. Have a wonderful evening.