Mayor and Council Meeting
Video Transcript
Duration: 67 minutes
Speakers: 18
To the City Of Roswell mayor and city council meeting of Tuesday, 05/27/2025.
I am Mayor Curt Wilson. Would like to introduce my colleagues and council members present. Council member Sarah Beeson,
council member Christine Hall,
council member Anne Pro Tem Lee
Hills, council member David Johnson,
council member William Mortland,
and council member Alan Sells.
At this point, I'll now turn it over turn the meeting over to our chief exec to our chief administrative officer and city administrator, mister Randy Knighton, to explain how the meeting is run. Mister Knighton.
Alright. Thank you, Mayor Wilson, and good evening, everyone.
In accordance with section chapter 3.7
of the city code, the city shall hold regular public meetings and the purpose of city council meetings are for the public to participate and speak on agenda items which constitutes formal decisions by the elected body. These items are listed on the published agenda, which can be accessed via the city website prior to the meeting. This is a public meeting and some items do require a formal public hearing. An important component of city council meetings are for
the mayor and council to hear directly from residents on items listed on the agenda.
Residents are at the top of the organizational chart for the city of Roswell. Therefore, public comments
and or questions are essential for mayor and council to consider
as they contemplate each decision.
To ensure an accurate record of the meeting,
we ask that everyone who would like to speak on an item, please complete a comment card located at the back of the room. We ask that everyone observe the principles of mutual respect
and display the appropriate demeanor during the course of the meeting this evening, which should be and is reflective of this great community.
With respect to the proceedings, we ask that attention is given to the person speaking. And if it is necessary to have an independent conversation, that you exit the rear doors to the vestibule area.
And we also ask that you silence any electronic devices at this time.
The mayor is the presiding officer and will ensure
the orderly exchange of comments, questions,
and discussion leading to decisions by the elected body. We encourage everyone to visit roswell365.com
for a calendar of events.
There are a number of events upcoming in the city of Roswell,
which promote community,
physical
activity, and leisure as we all make Roswell the number one family community in America.
Mayor Wilson. Thank you so much, mister Knighton. At this time, I have the great privilege of asking Dori Griggs, our Roswell fire department Chaplain, to the front for the invocation and moment of silence. Welcome, Dori.
And
thank you, Roswell Fire Department Chaplain Dory Griggs, as always. Thank you, Dory.
At this time, I'd like to ask United States Army master sergeant Andy McNichol
to please come forward and lead us lead us in the pledge of allegiance.
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, sergeant McNichol. I'm gonna ask with your permission for you to stay up there for the first item under the mayor's report,
which is the proclamation for esteemed veteran of Roswell.
Proclamation,
office of the mayor, master sergeant Andy McNichol,
esteemed veteran of Roswell.
Whereas the city of Roswell proudly recognizes the extraordinary
service and sacrifice
of those who've worn the uniform of the United States Armed Forces.
Whereas, master sergeant Andy McNichol,
audibly served the United States Army,
answering the call to duty at in 1984
at the age of 18
and beginning his military journey at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia.
And whereas throughout his distinguished army career,
master sergeant McNichol
held numerous leadership roles, including
squad leader,
team leader,
platoon
sergeant, operation sergeant,
jump master,
and instructor.
And whereas he completed a number of elite training programs,
including ranger school,
jump master school,
long range surveillance school, and various leadership and instructor courses
that contributed to his effectiveness and leadership in the field.
And whereas master sergeant McNichol
earned multiple honors and recognitions for his service,
including several army commendation medals,
army achievement medals,
the combat infantry badge, and the joint service commendation medal.
And whereas he served on high level assignments such as providing security
for the Olympic Village during the nineteen ninety six Olympic games,
deployments to Norway and The Republic Of Georgia,
post nine eleven airport security at Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport,
and deployment to Iraq in 02/2003.
And whereas following his honorable retirement from the United States Army in 02/2005,
master sergeant McNichol
continued to pursue excellence through education,
earning a bachelor of science in mathematics from North Georgia College.
And whereas he remains actively engaged in community service through his involvement with Mike Roswell,
continuing his legacy of leadership legacy of leadership
and commitment to public service.
And whereas the city of Roswell
is proud to honor master sergeant Andy McNichol
for his exemplary
military service,
community involvement,
and lifelong dedication to the values
of integrity,
courage, and service.
Now, therefore, I, Curtin Wilson,
mayor of the city of Roswell, Georgia,
do hereby name
master sergeant Andy McNichol,
an esteemed veteran of Roswell,
and call upon all our citizens to recognize his outstanding service to our country
and to our community,
and that there is no higher calling than those who serve the United States Armed Forces. Congratulations, Andy.
This is for you, sir.
No. Just you have a anything? No. Okay. No. Thank you. Alright. There's gonna be pictures. I I don't want you to be here all night.
Alright. Let's get a picture. Yes, sir.
David, almost
took
your
chair.
Thank you so much, United States Army Master Sergeant Andy McNichol.
Next on the mayor's report is upcoming events in the city of Roswell.
Council member Lee Hills, pro tem, would you please make the announcements? Thank you, mayor. Yes. Wanna draw your attention always to roswell365.com.
This is a centralized location online where you can find out what's coming up, in the city of Roswell. You may also register your own event if you have something that you'd like to advertise to the public, if that's in the way of your HOA,
a five zero one c three nonprofit,
a faith organization, or maybe a neighborhood,
garage sale, yard sale, or something of that nature. But you can register for free at roswell365.com,
and,
put your own graphic on there, the information regarding the the event, and then it'll stay up until your event has come to fruition on our calendar and it'll drop off automatically. So I encourage you to utilize that tool. We've also got a lot of great things coming up. First of all, this Friday, May 30, from one to three at Gracious Plenty. Please join our police and fire chiefs for coffee. This is a great chance to connect with our first responders, check out some cool police and fire vehicles, and enjoy fun, a fun afternoon with your whole family or friends. Then on Saturday, June 7, we've got two incredible events lined up. The annual cops and cars show at Lebanon Baptist Church features a spectacular display of classic
sports and specialty cars. It's a favorite for car lovers of all ages. That's Saturday, June 7.
And in the same day at Barrington Hall, don't miss the Lavender Festival from 10AM to 5PM.
This is an all across the grounds celebration of summer with more than 60 artists and crafts
vendors, food trucks, live entertainment, and more. It's one of Roswell's most beloved events. It's packed,
so prepare to, spend the afternoon there, but it's a great event. And, I encourage you to check out either one of those on June 7 or both.
Then on Friday the thirteenth, June 13, get ready to relax under the stars with music on the hill at City Hall. The music starts at 7PM
featuring Doc Rock Radio playing all your favorite soft rock hits from the seventies.
Bring a blanket or a lawn chair and enjoy a perfect Roswell evening.
And every Saturday at 8AM,
the Roswell Farmers and Artisans Market is the place to be right here at City Hall. This is a new location this year or should I say a new old location? And it is
hopping. Strongly encourage you stop by. It's the best in North Fulton offering fresh fresh produce, handmade goods, and local charm. And, mayor, if you can help me remember, there's also
relationship built with the Roswell Jams, which is bluegrass,
a bluegrass,
ad hoc group that plays, I believe, at the Presbyterian Church, Roswell Pres. Every Tuesday night at seven. Yes. And so it's kinda like an open mic, but if you wanna bring your guitar or your voice and jump in, they will be performing during the farmers markets starting this weekend. I don't know the exact schedule, but I believe they'll be there this Saturday. So that's starting at 8AM from eight to noon every Saturday right here at City Hall.
And then for details on any and all of these things and maybe things that pop up between now and then, please check out roswell365.com
and see what else is happening in our great city. Thank you, Mayor. Back to you. Thanks, Lee, so much. And thanks for bringing up the Farmers Market. It's,
yeah, it's popping and great leadership, great team. Thanks so much to Christine Hall
for making it happen and to, Christina de Victor for leading and doing a great job.
And speaking of great jobs,
the city Roswell is made up of approximately 100,000
people, of which approximately 30% of those people
get to be have the great luxury
of having the widest finest water system in the entire state of Georgia, I dare say, maybe the Southeast.
So tonight's agenda is the recognition of the Environmental Public Works department for receiving many, many, many awards.
I'm gonna ask our director of environmental public works, mister Brian Watson, to come forward to announce the recognition.
And selling is on. It doesn't matter. This night is not
This is a
this is a true truly incredible night,
that we get to do.
You know, council, mayor, that we do our best to serve the residents of Roswell. And like you said, you know, we don't get to serve the full city of Roswell with our water utility,
and I know everybody wishes that they did. But tonight is really about the water utility and,
headed up by, Chris Boyd, who you've who's seen number of times.
But,
this is all about his team and the different awards that his team has been able to show.
So I, you know, turn it over to him. So thank you.
Good evening, mayor and council. It is truly an honor to be up here today to recognize many of the staff that I have within our utility and our water professionals.
This time, I'd like to introduce Jennifer Flowers with the Georgia Association of Water Professionals. She's gonna be presenting several awards for the Public Works Environmental Department.
Thank you, Chris, Brian. Good evening, mayor and council.
Thank you so much for allowing me to be here today and your time. My name is Jennifer Flowers. I'm with the Georgia Association of Water Professionals,
and GWP for short. And we, if you're unfamiliar with us, we have 4,000,
members who are water professionals across Georgia.
And I am truly thrilled
to be here to present not one, but three awards to these very talented individuals tonight in the city of Roswell.
I have actually been honored to get to know many of of the water utility staff here at Roswell,
and you should be extremely proud. They're very talented and dedicated individuals,
and,
they keep the water flowing and really make Roswell the wonderful place that it is to live, work, and play. I know numerous people who live, here within the city, and it's it's a truly wonderful place.
The first award,
that I would like to present is the GAWP
Public Education Award.
This is the first time that Roswell has run has won this award.
Each year,
GAWP
bestows the public education awards to deserving utility members,
and the the
award focuses on superior educational programming and highlighted,
creativity,
inventiveness,
and new programs implemented by utilities.
So I'm excited to present,
the gold level for education program of excellence award to miss Liberty Gates.
Congratulations.
And I actually have gotten to know Liberty over this past year. She was part of the Leadership Academy,
and she,
just really is very delightful.
She's invented and always thinking of ways to serve this community and the best way to communicate with the residents of war as well. So y'all are very lucky to have her, on your team. Congratulations
again.
The next award,
that I would like to present so for the past twenty eight years,
GNUP has been honored to provide the Gold Award,
program,
Excellence Awards.
And this is for exceptional performance,
in the delivery of safe drinking water.
Utilities that earn these awards,
are ones that have achieved full compliance
for one year with all applicable permit requirements,
the State Drinking Water Act, maximum contaminant levels. And this is no small feat.
One small,
issue,
can actually
you would not be eligible for the award. So it takes teamwork.
It takes the entire group, a dedication. It takes communication
from operators,
lab technicians,
engineers, maintenance staff, managers, so many different people
making sure, that the water system is functioning the way that it should. And I will say, let's not forget you all, because as the elected officials, you ensure that they have the resources that they need to be the best that they can.
So we would like to ask,
Jesse Cash,
to come up and,
receive this award.
Okay. And then last, but definitely not least,
is the best operated water plant of the year.
And last month at our spring conference, then the city of Roswell was, honored,
to be and awarded the best operated water plant of the year for zero to 4,990,000,000
gallons a day.
And it honors the best managed and operated water facilities in Georgia.
It is an extensive evaluation of their peers who come and tour the plant from four to six hours.
The the team comes in, answers questions,
and facilities have to score at least a 90% or above,
to even be,
considered. And so it is wonderful, that the city of Roswell, congratulations
for,
receiving the best operated water plant of the year.
And if I may, there's a lot of, water professionals
who are, here with us tonight. May I take the liberty to ask them to stand to be recognized? Thank you all so much for all that you do.
And,
Chris, if you didn't know, is the president of the Georgia Association of Water Works of what GAWWA this year. And he has been phenomenal for our community and and water. So thank you. I'm gonna turn it over to Chris.
Thank
you, Jennifer.
Before I leave,
I do wanna mention a few other things to recognize folks.
So last November,
at the fall conference held in Jekyll Island by JWP,
the distribution
won their
third platinum award for distribution system excellence,
in a row. We're going from number four this year. Wow.
And then
last month at the JWP spring conference, there were several competitions that were held,
of which
city staff competed in.
For our meter challenge competition,
we knocked out. We were first, second, and third.
And Arthur Breckfael, please stand.
He was our first place winner.
Ahmed Shindib was our second place winner. He couldn't be here tonight. He's working his shift at the water treatment plant, making sure the water is flowing.
And Nathan Gravely came in third place.
Second competition that was held at the spring conference was hydrant hysteria.
Now this is a competition where teams have to
put a hydrant back together.
And it's teams of two. This is the first time
that Georgia has hosted this competition,
ever.
And
Kyle Brookshire,
Corey Bagby, please stand.
They came in third place.
So I'm extremely proud of our team, our water professionals for the jobs that they do, the skills that they have and can showcase.
And I think our community is well served by them. Thank you.
I think we need to get a photo. But one thing, the plan to the year this is the fourth year in a row.
This one in into
in the fifth time,
they don't have to submit for this award, by the way.
They actually do this because they want to do it. So just kind of think about that. These are the types of people that work for the city and,
proud to be, associated with them. So thank you. Thank you, Brian. Amazing. Yeah. Chris, great leadership, great team. The water team is amazing. We are so well served as a city by this amazing group of people. Thank you for all that you do. These awards, I'm glad you get acknowledged with awards. We're so thankful to have you in our city. We're so thankful for the work you do. You just guys are amazing.
And no karaoke, please Liberty tonight.
Alright?
Beautiful. Alright. And we're gonna come do a picture with you guys if you allow us to. Congratulations.
Yeah. She's amazing.
And then I figured out, like, oh, you're talking about liver. Yeah. Tell her about liver. Yeah. Tell her about liver.
That was sweet. Thanks, water team. You guys are awesome.
Thank you.
Are you just are you just recusing? I'm just recusing. Yeah. Yeah. Light jog out the door. Yeah. By the time I come back, you guys are gonna
Oh, you won't pull it off and recuse it?
I'll do the rest of the sentence.
Okay.
You're right.
Alright.
Next is the consent agenda.
I'm gonna quickly pull item number four off as a separate item to be considered,
because Sarah wants to recuse herself. Thanks, sir. Absolutely.
So consider items one, two, three, five, and six on the consent agenda.
Does council have any questions or comments regarding the consent agenda?
Thank you very much. Any comments from any Roswell residents on the consent agenda
on items one, two, three, five, or six?
Welcome.
Good evening to you all. A little bit rainy, but it's okay.
We're not melting.
I'm looking at number six.
It's very, very
vague
topic.
I was looking at agenda. I couldn't
find any
other information.
But it's a very
important
two words. It's a property
tax.
Identifying in any agenda number, what it is.
Can you please
explain to me and probably to resident
what it means?
What tax
when, how David, you feel free Your taxes.
So this year, Fulton County, as part of their digest, is requiring every city in Fulton County
to submit an estimated
property tax rollback rate.
We have absolutely no idea what it's going to be, but they want an estimate from this each city. And so that's what this is. So it's not binding,
Doesn't have really anything to do with anything other than Fulton County has requested of every city
so they can set
the digest.
Okay. Because I received two states from the
county and from Roswell
that increasing the taxes
according to valuation.
Is this what it is?
Say that again? I didn't understand. I received a statement
from Fulton County
and the city of Roswell
that increasing my
taxes or basically, I need to pay more than I paid
for '24 that I paid in '24.
Yes, sir. That has nothing to do with the estimated property tax rollback rate.
Okay. So basically,
you cannot tell me numbers or something like that? For example
can you give me an example for
Well, the you know what the you know what the current m and o rate is on the tax property tax rate? Because I know yes, sir. Yes.
So based upon the millage rate, that's the rate that it could be. We have to estimate will it be the same or or will it go
up?
That's basically all Fulton County is asking for from from us.
Okay. Does it affect our taxes?
This is an estimate. So this is not this is there's this is simply a something for Fulton County
to say, hey,
we are doing an estimate on our property tax rollback rate. This has nothing to do with the formal with your formal taxation at this point. Thank you. Thank you, sir.
Alright. Thanks so much. Yes, ma'am?
I'm sorry. I apologize. I didn't
yes, ma'am. Come on up, Courtney. Sorry.
Welcome.
Hi. Good evening.
My name is Courtney Rozier. I live at 540 Hembree Road. Yes, ma'am. I just had a quick question on,
just to confirm a few things on a consent agenda number two.
Just wanted to,
confirm that this means
there were some timing
items that
back in December when there was a loan,
that was approved
for,
the Groveway Apartments.
So I was just wondering, just to kinda get confirmation, was the loan approved?
Does this mean that RHA,
received or was I think the language was closed on its final,
closed on its phase one funding
and that construction will begin this summer.
Just confirming that those Yeah. So things are all still on track and happening. Yeah. The the breadth of your questions are way outside of the item being considered on the consent agenda. But let me get you an answer or two. Okay?
Jeff?
Thank you, mayor. So the item tonight is for a retaining wall associated with the address of 199 Grove Way.
That does not have anything to do with the section one zero eight loan. However, the one zero eight loan is still in process right now with the city. It has been approved by the city council. It has not been finalized at the federal level, which we expect to happen sometime this summer.
And the and the project is moving forward?
Yes, sir. Thanks so much. Courtney, did that help? Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
Any other questions on the consent agenda or or sorry, comments?
Thanks so much. Bring it back to council.
Any thoughts, comments, or questions? If not, is there a motion to yes, ma'am?
Motion approved. Motion approved. Items one, two, three, five, and six on the consent agenda. Motion is made by councilor Beeson, seconded by council member Johnson.
All in favor approving on the consent items, consent agenda items one, two, three, five, and six, please raise your hands. Let the record show that the consent agenda passes unanimously on items one, two, three, five, and six. We're gonna consider item number four on the consent agenda separately,
and and Sarah is gonna recuse herself. So we'll give her just a second.
You are being timed.
Alright. Item number four on the consent agenda
is now under consideration in front of the council.
Any comments, thoughts, or questions from
council? Thank you very much. I will now bring it to any Roswell residents. Do you have any thoughts, comments, or questions on item number four on the consent agenda?
Yes, ma'am.
My name is Courtney Rozier. My address is 540 Hembree Road.
So when I was reading through the information that was posted on the agenda,
there was a revised schedule that was included and that I believe is part of the task order.
And,
it indicated
that there would be two public hearings
and that the first hearing would be May
2025.
So my question is, is this considered that first hearing
or will there be another revised schedule?
Yes, ma'am. We will revise the schedule. Great. Thank you. Good question. Thank you.
Thank you, Jeff. Thank you, Courtney.
Any other, questions or comments on item number four on the consent agenda?
Thank you very much, Courtney.
Bring it back to council. Any thoughts?
Alright. Do I have a motion on item number four on the consent agenda?
Motion number,
item number four, a motion made
by council member Johnson to approve. Is there a second?
Second by council member Bursells. All in favor of approving approving item number four on the consent agenda, please do so by raising your hands.
Let's let the record show that the consent agenda item number four passes unanimously five to zero,
with Sarah Beeson,
recusing herself. Thanks so much.
Alright.
Next is a regular agenda, and I'm gonna ask council member Hall to read the very first item under this particular ordinance change Amendment.
Thank you, mayor. Item number one, approval of an ordinance to amend chapter two, art article 2.2
personnel,
article 2.3,
city administrator,
and article 2.4,
committees and departments of the code of ordinances of the city of Roswell.
This is the second reading and will be
presented by doctor Panino.
I think our chief legal officer and city attorney David Davidson has to read the ordinance first, so I apologize.
Thank you, mayor. This is an ordinance to amend chapter two, article 2.2, personnel, article 2.3, city administrator, article 2.4,
committees and departments administration.
Now, therefore, the mayor and council of the city of Roswell, pursuant to their authority,
do hereby adopt the following amendment.
Chapter two administration,
article 2.2
personnel, article 2.3 city administrator,
article 2.4 committees and departments of the code of ordinances
of the city of Roswell, Georgia is hereby amended and replaced with exhibit a
attached here to and incorporated here in by reference. And if approved, this is the second reading.
Thank thank you, David Davidson. Appreciate it very much. Welcome senior vice president, Joe Panino,
to present the item. Thank you, mayor and council. So tonight is the second reading, and
I'm going to forego the lengthy presentation and just give you the the summary,
as we've gone through that presentation both at committee and council. But it, you have the most recent version there in front of you. In general, the revisions modernize the language, reduce redundancies,
empower staff along with the,
guidance of the mayor and council,
and aligns with best practices
and municipal government. So it clarifies
the authority for operational decisions, which allows staff to move more,
quickly and be more nimble to
in response to the residents and business owners. And it also preserves the mayor and council's oversight
for both policy matters and key hiring decisions.
So regarding the city administrator, this proposed language authorizes
the city administrator to initiate changes in the personnel manual,
appoint or remove department heads, create, consolidate,
combine, or dissolve city departments.
Regarding executive roles,
it adds the title of chief administrative
officer to the city administrator.
It adds chief legal officer designation to the city attorney.
It also codifies the positions of chief financial officer and chief operating officer.
Regarding committees and liaison roles,
it removes redundant language to reflect the city charter where council members are appointed by the mayor to oversee and report on department functions and the mayor's priorities.
And,
there's a couple changes,
in consultation
with the mayor and council from the first reading. I'd like to call those out. So first,
in article two point three point four, the city administrator appoints these new c suite positions,
police chief and fire chief with the mayor and council approval,
and these positions may be removed by either.
In addition, two point three point five, the ordinance also addresses procedures for naming an acting city
administrator
during absences
of the city administrator.
So in conclusion, these changes support operational efficiency, we streamline decision making, and align Roswell's structure with surrounding communities,
ensuring that we are, in fact, the number one family community in America.
So I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Thank you.
Thank you, Senior Vice President Joe Pannino.
Counsel, any thoughts, comments, or questions for doctor Pannino?
Thank you very much. I'll ask, any Roswell residents have any thoughts, comments or questions on the item in in the item in in front of us?
Yes, ma'am. Courtney, welcome.
Port Crosier,
540 Hambury Road. Oh, Courtney, you don't have to do that, but thank you. You're so polite.
Thank you.
So my question
is
that with the removal
of major
structural changes,
substantive changes being,
removed from the ordinance,
is when there are major changes or substantive changes, how is the public informed of those changes?
Or would they be? I'm sorry, Courtney. I do not mean to be,
ignorant on your question, but I don't understand it since it's kinda because it's been the committee and then it's been the first reading, second reading. So that by a fact, I'm thinking is is sharing it with the the public. So I'm a little confused.
Talking yes. So under two point two point two,
the personnel manual,
that the ordinance change strikes out,
that substantive changes to the personnel manual would come before mayor and council.
And then under two point three point
four h,
I think, you had mentioned that,
That's exactly right.
I think under the current language,
if there are departments that are gonna be dissolved,
major structural changes
such as that, and under our departments that currently it would come before mayor and council.
But my understanding is that with the changes to the ordinance,
those types of major changes to the department structure of city hall would not no longer come
before city and so before mayor and council. And so just my observation is that that's basically how the public's informed
of
structural changes
to how the city hall is
set up.
And so I'm just
wondering, like, in the future, how would the public
mayor in council be informed of sub sub substantive
changes and major changes? I think, Joe, you wanna address kinda what's been going on and I think in kinda relation to
Courtney's perspective and what actually has been happening over the last twenty years and how you're looking to correct that.
So regarding the personnel manual, typically, in most cities, that is an internal document that manages
kind of, like, the day to day procedures
of how staff operates.
Things in there talk about how you might,
request time off or,
how you may,
deal with employee evaluations. It's very administrative in nature.
And generally, most city,
most cities don't even have those
manuals
in the public domain. Of course, they're purview to open records request, but it's typically not something the public is interested in because it's very administrative
on how staff kinda conducts internal
business.
Regarding
the adding and changing of departments within the city,
those are currently
in ordinance right now and, in fact,
doesn't quite align with how we currently operate. And that's the problem with putting things like that in ordinance, where you clearly define the names of each departments. For instance,
in the ordinance, it says we have a parks department.
Over time, the parks department has evolved from the parks department to historical affair and cultural affairs.
We have an HR department that we say we we call it our HR department, but in fact, that's not listed in the ordinance as one our departments, so we call it a division. So that's an example of how being too,
restrictive and putting too much in ordinance really restricts our ability to be nimble
and reorganize
based on what the current needs are of the city and how to be responsive to the citizens
and business owners within the city.
Thank you, Joe.
So so, basically, we just no longer would be informed of
changes,
substantive changes
to department structure. I that is such a this
gigantic
statement out there that sounds so pejorative. And I just I don't think it's kinda hard to let that stand, but Sorry. Thank you, Courtney. Yes, ma'am. Go ahead. I I guess my observation is that most of these changes have already been made
and that they're coming before the public
through this process.
And I think people are interested
in knowing how
the
structure Because, like, we have organizational
charts,
and I understand that there's gonna be an organizational chart published. It's currently being worked on and will eventually be published and posted onto the website.
So I think even just at a high level of the I agree that detail I mean, really, I do not need to know how people in the city of Roswell
apply for their time off.
And I'm assume and and those are not the types of changes that are coming before city the mayor and council.
The ordinance indicates that they are major substantive changes such as the discipline of oops, sorry, sea level suite. And so I understand that if there would be changes in the removal of those types of positions, that those would come before city mayor and city council because they are now embedded within
the ordinance.
But when there are major changes to that organizational
chart,
I guess that's really that high level of how the city is operating, I do think the public is interested
and would like to know. Absolutely. Public's interested. Couldn't agree with you more. But I think we've been pretty transparent about that for the last two years.
I'm just because I'm confused I'm confused why there's confusion on it when we've been kinda talking about it for two years. Not confusion. I'm just asking how in the future
would substantive major changes
be communicated to the public. What's a substantive major change? Just for clarification.
I would say right now, there's no requirement that the city organizational charge, which gives that high level review of how the city is operating,
from a depart you know,
structurally
in, you know, in in that's in in that organizational chart, the citizens
are a part of it. Mayor and council are a part of it. And so
I just think that they're
I'm just asking I'm not asking for something like the organizational
changes to the organizational chart
to be embedded, you know, for the ordinance to be changed. I'm just simply asking,
how would, in the future,
if mayor if such
changes
that would be considered major, which I would think at a high level would be changes to that organizational
chart,
how would those types of changes
come before the citizens?
Who are part of that
organizational chart? Well, they're the top. Exactly. I mean, the the the city the residents of Roswell are the top of the organizational chart. Exactly. And that's why I think they should that's why I'm asking the question on how they would be informed. The representative government.
Right? We, the residents, elect representatives
to go govern
and represent us. And governing,
right, includes making decisions sometimes. The public ask for have to input into those decisions that are made by our representatives. Governing in a representative government
means that you trust the people that you elect
to go govern and make decisions for you. It doesn't mean that every single decision goes in front of the public to be publicly commented on. That's a farce.
If you think that matter of fact, I will tell you that's one of the one of the weaknesses of the city Of Roswell's government for the past twenty five years. And the reason it couldn't get things done, Courtney. So I'm glad you baited me into this discussion.
I It's exactly because it's exactly excuse me. I'm my turn.
It's exactly because the government
was unable to act because it constantly asked for public comment and it froze the elected officials into not making decisions.
So and and because often
these comments come come up. Well, if there's opposition,
then the elected officials would get frozen.
Representative government means that a elected officials are the representatives
of the people.
And when you don't like them, you reelect we either reelect them or you elect somebody else as your as your representatives of the people in a representative democracy.
That's what we are. And so as the representatives of the people, we do get to make decisions
for our for our fellow people that we represent. That's not an illogical thing.
Everything we do, Courtney,
we put out in the public. Every single thing we do, we make sure that the public knows. That doesn't mean that we ask the public, our fellow residents, on every single decision what should we we do. That would be an abdication of responsibility.
That would be an abdication of leadership.
And that, in my opinion, is what happened way too much in the past.
So
you're right.
You've we created a c suite. You know why? Because I wanted to take operational decisions
out of the elected officials hands and put them in the agency's hands so they can make operational decisions on an ongoing basis. And so that elected officials, I. E. Us, the people, wouldn't be involved in every single small operational decision which impacted the efficiency
and the efficacy of the city's work. To me, that's logical. The other reason we called it we created a c suite. Why did we create a c suite? Because we needed
judicious
thinking
for how to strategize
and align with the ongoing mission and strategy of the city rather than just simply doing all the time. And it's very easy when you're just doing all the time is to get silent in your actions.
So,
yes,
Joe is taking the existing charter,
the charter of the city where with where the city has not been in alignment for the last for many, many years,
and he's correcting it. And so to answer your question is, if there's a substantive change
that needs to be adjudicated through the process, it will be publicly
it will be publicly done. But it's also giving
the city administrator,
the COO, the CFO,
and the CLO,
as the c suite,
leadership of the city, it's giving them more latitude to make decisions.
And
the elected officials, the representatives of people are freely doing that because I believe, and saw Courtney with my own two eyes, elected officials way too involved in the operations of the city, which hurt the efficiency and the efficacy
of running this government.
Well, I appreciate that in the questions that I asked the city that the
organizational
chart will be posted. I look forward to that being
posted and that in the future when there's changes at that level of major substantive changes.
That's a way that I'm not sure how to pronounce that. Isn't it posted now? No. It's not posted? I've got it right here on my Is it? Okay. Because when I asked a couple weeks ago, I was
Cool. If you if you just search City Of Roswell, Georgia organizational chart, there are three tabs. One's administration, one is leadership team, and one is divisions, and then it has staff. It has every single it's all updated. Oh, but there's not an actual I've I've seen where
Well, right there, App and Media has the photographs right here in the same search, all of them. They're They might have been added to
Yeah. We've we've been really diligent on keeping those up to date. I know when the mayor and Will Northland and I came in,
a lot of those things in different places on the website had not been updated even I mean, before we got to work. So we're doing
yeoman's work trying to keep those up to speed.
Councilor Abbisa. Yeah. I wanted to respond to your question real quick.
Completely understand the concern in terms of, taking it out of the public purview. But to Mayor Wilson's point, these changes actually prevent it from being an overly
politicized process and instead puts the hands within the city administrator, who will be called the city administrative officer,
puts it more so into the actual managerial roles and keeps it internal.
It also keeps us from having to be
overly bureaucratic in the process because it begins to clog up the system. That said too, I realize that your concern is major substantive changes. I know that you haven't been very detailed with what that means. Most of the departments, especially the major departments, have ordinances that guide how those departments are individually managed. So for example, fire, police, all of them have guidances.
We are
required to follow those ordinances for how each of those are managed, so you wouldn't see any major sweeping changes outside of the public purview.
That said as well, anything would be open to open records request. So any changes that would be made, we would be able to to disclose to the public at any point in time. Thank you.
Any other thoughts, comments or questions from Roswell residents on this particular matter at hand?
Thank you very much. We're bringing it back to council. Council member Sales.
Mister Padino, a couple couple questions. The the first is, thinking
about some of these questions and what we're talking about here, had and I really don't know the answer to this and I hate answering asking questions that I had no idea what the where the answer is gonna take me, but I'll do it.
In the past,
has a a change in the organization
chart been something was brought for public debate and got public feedback?
Is that what the course of conduct was before? No.
No. And and our code currently reflects, as you say,
essentially an organizational chart that has not existed for a number of years.
Yeah. And basically, how we've gotten around that is
the the departments are outlined in some detail in ordinance. So when we wanted to add a different,
let's
say, function, we either call it a division or
we just don't go back and update ordinance.
So it's just an example of it. It takes too much administrative work to keep updating ordinances because as we know, it goes through committee and then two readings of counsel just to make a minor change in the ordinance. So we we're sort of fit stuck with between we can either ignore the ordinance like we have been doing for Lord knows how many years,
or we can make the ordinance fit the way the operation runs, which is to say we've empowered the c suite with the ability to accomplish the objectives that are set before them.
And if that's a problem, then we take that up through the process. It's outlined in in the document that you have passed around. Is that is that fair? Is that a fair statement? Absolutely correct. Say it better than I just said it? No. I I think that's, it's well said. We have a c suite. We have a CAO.
We have a bunch of talented staff that are in charge of the day to day operations of the city government.
Ordinance that is going to hamstring them or make them unresponsive or slow in response to to our community and the services that they expect.
Very good. Thank you.
Thank you, councilor Marcelles. Any other thoughts, comments, or questions from council?
If not, would anybody like to make a Christine, would you like to make a motion? Yes, sir. Motion to approve item number one, approval of an ordinance to amend chapter two, article two dot two, personnel, article two dot three, city administrator, and article two dot four, committees and departments of the code of ordinances of the city of Roswell, second reading. Would you read the, slight amendment to the language as well, please, ma'am?
With I'll let I'll let David read it. Sorry. Thank you.
Thank you. Under
section two point three point four
a, the second paragraph shall read, the police chief and fire chief shall be appointed by the city administrator,
subject to the approval of mayor and council. Either position may be removed by city administrator
or by the mayor and council in accordance with applicable laws and procedures.
That would be the only addition.
Thank you, David.
Alright. Is there a motion? Do you agree with that motion? Amendment Here. Sorry. Stand by. Two point three point five, a section that talks about,
acting city administrator.
Please.
So 2.3.5,
the city administrator may designate in writing an individual to serve as acting city administrator
during periods of temporary absence, unavailability,
or incapacity.
The designee shall assume all powers,
responsibilities of the city administrator
until the city administrator
resumes duties or an alternative arrangement is made. If the city administrator is unable or unavailable to make such designation,
the mayor may appoint an acting city administrator. The The city council retains the authority to revoke any such any such designation
and appoint an alternative by resolution.
Thank you, David. And, Christine?
So motion to approve, to
approve item number one
with the amendment as stated by our chief legal officer and also to include section two dot three dot five acting city administrator as was just read by our chief legal officer. Is that correct? Thank you, Christine.
So noted with the motion. And is there a second to the motion as noted by seconded by council member sales? All understand the motion before them with the amendments.
All in favor of the motion with the amendments, please raise your hands. Let the record show that the vote is six to zero and unanimous. Thank you very much. Appreciate it very much, Joe. Thank you.
Alright.
Let's see. It is
Council member Hall, I've got one more item. Would you please read it? Item number two, approval 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.
This is the first reading.
David, would you read the, ordinance, please, sir? Thank you, mayor. This is 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 certain conditions and for other purposes.
Facility
under certain certain conditions
and for other purposes.
Now, therefore, the mayor and council of the city of Roswell, pursuant to their authority, do hereby adopt the following amendment, the text of which is incorporated here in my reference and if approved, this would be the first reading. Thank you, David.
Let's see. Council, any thoughts or comments on this particular ordinance?
Councilmember Hills? Yes. Thank you, mayor. I'm delighted to support this. This is a Roswell resident entrepreneur who is opening up a cooking school, Tate Spuds Kitchen in the East Side and East Village, and is looking to have the opportunity to teach a class and then have the participants
or patrons be able to bring a bottle of wine in so that they may enjoy that with the meal that they have prepared. So I look forward to supporting an East Side village an East Side Of Roswell,
new business coming, a Roswell resident, and a great way to spend
some extra time, spare time in, learning to cook, having a sip, and meeting new friends.
Thank
you Lee very much. Any other thoughts, comments, or questions from counsel?
Be it to none or any Roswell residents would like to address this ordinance?
Thank you very much. Counsel,
let's see. This one's in front of you, Christine. Would you like to make a motion? Yes, sir. Motion to approve item number two. Approval 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.
First reading. Thanks, Christine. Is there a second to Christine's motion? Seconded by council member Hills. All those in favor of the motion at the or of the approval of the ordinance as read, please do so by raising your hands.
Let the record show that the vote is six to zero and approved. Thank you very much.
Next on the agenda is a community development item item.
I'm gonna ask council member Wirthlin to read the item, please.
Yes, sir.
Approval of an ordinance to amend chapter 10 of the code of ordinances of the city of Roswell to permit and regulate short term rentals and other purposes.
Read by Michelle
Alexander, community development director. That's your first reading. Right, Will?
Yes, sir. First reading. Thank you very much. And David, would you read the ordinance please, sir?
Thank you, mayor. This is approval of an ordinance to amend chapter 10 of the code of ordinances of the city of Roswell
to permit and regulate short term rentals and for other purposes.
Text of which is incorporated here in by reference and have approved this as the first reading.
Thank you so much, David. Welcome, Michelle.
Good evening. Thank you, mister mayor and council.
This is an ordinance that
aims to add just a little bit of public safety
measures and some,
regulation
to the services of short term
rental.
These are also known as Airbnb or,
VRBO
where by folks have guests in their homes. So what,
legal read into the record
establishes one that there's a mechanism to require
those who are offering their home
to guests
have a,
inspection
in order to have their business running
or to, excuse me, to allow those services
of having guests,
short term rentals.
They have to have fire marshal have an inspection every year,
and it requires a registration.
The benefit of this registration
is both for safety and emergency
calls. So 911,
PD, fire marshal, code enforcement,
we can all have, a contact 247.
If someone is away, the owner is away, we have this requires a contact.
It's not just for public safety or 911, but also for nuisances. So the code, the regulations also add and specify,
abuse of the services if you have three violations.
So it's a minimal
intent to just gain some public safety features
and also,
the nuisance
component to shore that up a little bit. And I have a presentation from the committee meeting if you would like me to walk through it for the public.
I think,
we're good, Jeff. Right?
Yeah. Unless there's a call from the council. The council have a call to see it.
Yeah. Just refer back to committee. Thank you. We we caught a great discussion there
at committee.
You're like, why'd you say so myself? That's right.
Thank you, Michelle.
Council, any thoughts, comments, or questions on the matter?
Yes, ma'am. Council member Beeson. Yeah. Just to reiterate, if anybody wanted to see the full presentation for the impetus, it was in the committee firm two weeks ago. I can't do the math in my head. Whatever the thirteenth? I'm just making that date up. Right. May 13. There we go. May 13.
To give a good summary of that,
it's not necessarily to get rid of short term rentals in the city or to restrict them in any way at this point in time. It's more so to allow the city to have
oversight in their operation and make sure that they are operated safely.
So for example,
making sure that all the windows are operable or that your smoke detectors are functional, you have a carbon monoxide detector,
things that lead towards,
life and health of the occupants with inside that facility,
especially since people are currently turning a profit over it. And it's also pretty standard from other surrounding municipalities. So not setting the bar restrictively high, just making sure that we're keeping folks safe as they're coming to visit us in Roswell.
Thank you, Sarah.
Yes, sir. Councilor Sells.
Thank you, Sarah. And, thank you, Mayor. There have been a lot of calls to me about this. So this is something that our HOAs and our neighborhoods are concerned about.
Really pleased to see this brought forward. We worked hard to make sure that it
took us where it needed to be. Things like the number of occupants in a single building was a call that I got frequently for houses where they rent out the whole house and there'd be thirty, thirty five people there. And there's really no accountability for that. We have no visibility to who the people are that own that are currently renting
in Roswell. So this gives us a way to make sure we know where these are where these places are. So we have have, the right code enforcement, those kinds of things. So this is a big step forward and very good.
Thank you, Allen. Any other thoughts, comments, questions from counsel?
Very good. I will ask any Roswell residents if they like to weigh in on the matter?
Alright. We thank you so much. Counsel,
Lizzie Will, would you like to make a motion, sir?
Mayor, if if if we may, I'd like to pass this to council member Beeson since she's the one that put all the hours working on this. Yeah. Makes a lot of sense. Sorry. Sarah, it's all yours. I appreciate council member Morruthon.
Motion to approve an ordinance to amend chapter 10 of the code of ordinances of the city of Roswell to prevent regulate short term rentals and for other purposes. This is the first reading. Thank you, Sarah. First motion has been made by Sarah. Is there a second?
Second by council member Johnson.
All understand the ordinance, in front of you, please do so. If you approve it by raising your hands,
let the record show that the first reading passes six to zero. Thank you very much. And the last item tonight is on the transportation department. Council member council member David Johnson, would you read the item item, please, sir?
This is a motion to approve
for approval to submit a local maintenance and improvement grant, LMIC, application for the 2025 safety action program to the Georgia Department of Transportation.
Accept the LMIC funds up to $400,000
from GDOT in a budget amendment to set up the funding upon approval.
Director Littlefield is enjoying himself with some vacation, so we have mister Dana,
presenting the item. Hello, mayor and council. Mark Dana, transportation planning manager.
Yeah. So GDOT reached out to us about a month ago. They had some surplus money. They've offered us a $400,000
safety grant,
which requires a 30% local match. So that'd be a 120,000
from the city.
We've identified
some RFPs, which are the crossing pedestrian crossing beacons that we wanna put our own city.
About 10 different locations.
That is about it. It does require a 30% notch, so it come out of the bond for the bicycle pedestrian safety bond amount. So
any questions? Good job, Mark. Thanks. Yeah. Council, any thoughts, comments, or questions on it? David.
I mean, I might be just a little, you know, happy from committee. And this is, you know, the happiness is rolling over. But this really is a start of,
we're going to slow down the cars in Roswell.
And,
we talked about vision zero committee earlier tonight, and,
I mean, my goal is that no pedestrian dies ever again in Roswell. And as long as I'm a elected official, I'm gonna keep pursuing that pursuing that goal. And I'm excited to have a mayor and council that's, on board with that. And and city staff that's on board with that. Amen. Yeah. This is the first up. Yeah. As you said, we have a lot of things we're gonna be bringing forward to you guys in the coming months. So come out for that. Good stuff, Mark. Thank you. Well done, David. Any thoughts, comments, questions from council? If not, I'll ask any Roswell residents if they'd like to weigh on this particular matter.
Thank you so much. David, if not, would you like to make a motion please, sir?
Motion for approval to submit a local and maintenance improvement grant, application for the 2025
safety action program to the Georgia Department of Transportation,
accept the LMIC funds up to $400,000
from GEDOT and a budget amendment
to set up the funding upon approval. Thank you, council member Johnson. Is there a second to David Johnson's motion?
Seconded by council member Sells.
All those in favor of the motion in hand, please do so by raising your hands. Let the record show that the motion passes unanimously.
Thank you very much.
Being that there are no other items on tonight's,
agenda agenda, this mayor and council meeting of Tuesday, 05/27/2025
is adjourned. Thank you so much. Have a good evening.