Committees of Council Meeting
Video Transcript
Duration: 18 minutes
Speakers: 4
Alright. We're ready. Okay. Alright. We're ready to get move forward.
Alright. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the committee meetings for 07/15/2025.
The esteemed
mayor and council present, mayor Kurt Wilson,
council member Christine Hall, council member Alan Sells, council member David Johnson,
council member Sarah Beeson, council member Glee Hills.
I am Randy Knighton, chief administrative officer along with chief chief legal officer
David Davidson and the deputy city clerk
and assistant to counsel
miss Michelle Miller.
The purpose of committee meetings are for city departments to convey information to mayor and council, discuss initiatives listed on the published agenda,
as well as provide updates of information essential for city government operations.
By ordinance, the committee consists of the mayor and council as well as the,
chief administrative
officer as chair of the committee meetings, and this is a public meeting, but not a public hearing. And therefore, while therefore, while we certainly appreciate
members of the public being present and tuning in,
we do not normally take,
public comments at these meetings unless specifically authorized by mayor and council.
Public comments, of course, are taken on the second and fourth Mondays of each month at mayor and council meetings as well as the fifth Monday in open forum.
We do encourage residents to please reach out to us for any questions,
that you have. We also encourage residents to,
access the web service portal for the city and and also roswell365.com
for a calendar of events.
The first item on the agenda is the,
minutes
for the 06/24/2025
committees meeting.
We have a motion, motion by council member Beeson, second by council member,
Hills.
Any further discussion?
Seeing none. All in favor?
Alright. That passes unanimously.
Thank you very much.
Item number two is listed on the regular agenda.
Consideration for the mayor and or city administrator to approve
the Wexford Club Incorporated
dredging assistance
policy application,
and that will be presented by mister Brian
Watson.
Mister Watson. Good evening, mister Knight. Good evening, mayor. Good evening, council.
The first item that we have on committee tonight is, the approval,
the recommendation for approval of the dredging assistance application.
I thought it might be helpful for mayor and council since,
there has not been one of these applications that have
background, before we actually get into the, recommendation for approval. So I've got just a couple of slides.
So the dredging assistance
policy, which is article 24.6
in the code of ordinances,
allows
entities
to
get reimbursement
up to a certain amount for their ponds or their lakes in their, homeowner
in their HOA or in their, actually on their parcel.
The policy is to share, the dredging costs up to 50%
or $500,000
whichever is less.
There's two criteria
that an applicant would have to meet.
The first criteria is a drainage area of a 100,
acres that drain to it. The second criteria is a
applicant doesn't meet one of these two requirements, then they competition
for mayor and council to have a special variance,
to get recommended for approval.
When an applicant,
submits an application, they get approved. Funds are not reimbursed back to the applicant until the project is
completed. The reason for that is because the city
oversees the project. Make sure that it's done according to what is in our ordinances.
Also, it's important to note that the reimbursement is solely for dredging operations, so it's not reimbursement
for any engineering work. It's not reimbursement for landscaping
improvement to, the embankment or the dam. This is solely for the removal of and transport off of dredge material.
The applicant must receive an LDP, land disturbance permit from community development
prior to,
and then it comes to environmental public works to make a recommendation.
But that, LDP has to be approved before we come before, committee.
Show you. So just Wexford Mill Pond. This
is west I'm sorry. East Of King Road, North Of Hart Scrabble Road, kind of that where that circle
is.
So
in reviewing the the application,
Watcher Club, the pond actually meets the the actually meets both requirements, but the first requirement in the drainage area is is one that actually is the largest. So there's a 173
acres that drain to it.
The applications were up to 3,000 cubic yards of sediment to be removed,
which is approximately 300 truckloads one way. So it's 600 truckloads round trip.
The applicant obtained a land disturbance permit in late June
submitted to,
environmental public works, early May
of this year, but we wait until the land disturbance, permit was approved before we, like I said before we come before committee.
The total dredging costs that are eligible for reimbursement is 218,000,
which means they would get 109,000
if mayor and council approved that.
One of the things that's important to note for councils as environmental public works is reviewing the application.
One of the main things that I want to see is that the project is a benefit
to the citizens that it's not just an amenity for the H 0 A. So we evaluate if that lake or pond actually has a stormwater component to the overall system. So that's an important thing for us to review.
What's also nice about this project is it improves water quality to an unnamed tributary to Hog Waller Creek, which is actually listed on the state's three zero three D list for impaired waters due to fecal,
and E. Coli.
So
with that,
staff is recommending approval of the application.
And we've also made a recommendation
of where the funds would come from to pay for this, which is out of the erosion sediment control fund. With that, I'll take any questions.
Thank you, mister Watson. Yes. Mayor Wilson.
Thank you,
mister chairman, and thank you, mister Watson, for your
outstanding work and as our public works director and for the work you do around stormwater
and how important you make that as a priority for the city today and tomorrow.
And, I think it's important to note is that,
I I think, I don't think one of these has ever been funded before. So this is a first, I believe, for the city. It's the first that's under this,
ordinance since 2016. 2016. Yes, sir. And,
excited about it because,
I think you made a couple of important distinctions.
It's not for aesthetics.
It's not to make the subdivision look better.
It is clearly a stormwater strategy to serve
the needs of the greater city and the stormwater,
strategy for the city. And so these are important,
when these come back for the council.
I recognize that the council might have some
concerns at how many we will get.
But what I wanna do share is it's part of the overall
storm water strategy for the city.
It's not just simply to take care of an individual,
subdivision.
The other thing is is that the requirements
for this for the HOA when they,
go through this is are pretty high. A lot of work has to go into it.
The other thing, there's another note in there that I'm glad, Brian, that you put into this equation, which we didn't have previously,
is a transportation
bond.
So that when you take a 100 or 200 or 300 or 400 truckloads of dirt off-site,
there's real damage to the public roadways, and that has to make sure that that burden doesn't necessarily fall on the taxpayers, that the roads get repaired,
and that the people responsible for the project had the means in mind to do that. So really glad you added the transportation bond.
Obviously, this is something that we want HOAs to look seriously at. This recent this program is in place.
And, I think it's a smart program, and it's a good program for the stormwater strategy
of the city. I will be,
obviously supporting this from my perspective. Thank you for your work.
Alright. Thank you.
Any further comments or questions for mister Watson?
Yes. Council member Sells. Thank you, mister Knighton. Just one quick comment and a question.
You know, stormwater is an emerging issue,
certainly in in my experience, and I I know you've been focused on a long time, but it's a relatively new issue, And it is a limit to economic development, is it not? The whole stormwater question is always one of the top questions. So projects like this may be
also a benefit to our economic plans as depending on where they may be and how they fit into the future. So it's a limit and this is another way for us to manage it in cooperation with those who have
facilities in place. Is that is that fair? That's I would say that wouldn't be the the number one thing that we'd look at. We want to make sure that it's for the stormwater management system. But absolutely, there is
a tangible economic
value
to making sure that lakes and ponds or any stormwater management system is actually
still capable and operating as as designed. Right. And we as a city have a responsibility for the whole area, and this would be a part of that. Thank you.
Yes. My Wilson. Yeah. I just wanna give you an also credit for because these projects have the capacity for tremendous
for how you handle the dredging material. And
this project is a good example of really limiting it to about 300 truckloads of dirt being removed off-site. Sounds like a lot,
but based upon the volume of these type of projects, it's very easy to get much, much larger in scope. So,
again, good job by
Wexford
and the folks that they used in their planning and keeping the truckloads to a minimum. 300 is a very, very manageable number.
But, again, you putting a transportation bond on it is a very important part of the requirements
to make sure that that's there because there is a cost, and it does have to be somebody's gotta pay it. It doesn't need to be Roswell taxpayers. So I'm really glad you guys put that into equation.
And, Alan, it's a great point because,
you know, if forty or fifty years ago, we'd had the the,
the magic crystal ball and it looked at the stormwater
impact
and effects of economic development, particularly in a community like Roswell, where you have
so much 40 year old inventory.
Big river. That's right. And you look at the if we had put the same kind of stormwater planning,
obviously, which happens often with problems. You don't see what you don't know or you don't plan for what you don't know because of the cost and or the sophistication
of of the team in place.
And,
this is a big change in terms of the sophistication of the planning that we have for stormwater. And you're right. Stormwater is an emerging issue. We've talked about it before. We probably don't talk about it enough
because we're gonna be talking about it more and more.
And the reality is is that cities like Roswell, communities like Roswell
are going to either get into not only the planning, but figuring how to pay for stormwater
and addressing issues across the board. Because if not, somebody's gonna end up paying for it. And this is a really, really smart kind of private
public partnership,
where the burden is shared
by the HOA, but also by the taxpayers,
because it does affect the whole city. And it's easy to think it's not in my area. The stormwater has massive ramifications,
and I'm I'm really proud of this city and and the planning, the strategy, Brian, of you and your team. Thank you, sir. Alright. Thank you.
Any further
questions or comments?
Seeing none, we'll entertain a motion.
Motion by council member Sells, second by council member Beeson. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor? Alright. That passes unanimously. Thank you very much.
Item
number three.
Consideration for the mayor and or city administrator to award a contract
to Webb Construction for construction
of the police permanent
evidence facility
in an amount not to exceed $2,200,000
Mr. Watson. Thank you, mister Knighton.
This project will construct a new 10,500
square foot multiuse facility for police
and would be located on the northern most part of the new public safety headquarters,
which is located at 1080 Holcomb Bridge Road.
This facility will include not only permanent evidence but a motor barn as well as a CrossFit gym.
The contract with Web construction will include both the building design as well as the cost for construction.
Web has an extensive experience in designing and constructing similar facilities for the military and private businesses.
And staff recommends awarding a contract to Web in an amount not to exceed $2,200,000
Staff also recommends allocating $220,000
in construction contingency to allow for any
circumstances that will,
arise during construction.
With that, I'll take any questions. Alright. Thank you, mister Watson.
Any questions or comments for mister Watson? Yes. Mayor Wilson. Sorry. Just a simple question, Brian. It's not in the presentation.
If approved by counsel,
at the next meeting,
when would,
design and construction begin? And when would when it would be complete? When would it be completed? That's a good question. We actually already started design, sir, because we need to, we're,
we got some time limits that we're working with. So, the site design is actually already,
started with, another vendor,
but the construction would be completed by the end of the year.
So by 12/31/2025,
the police permanent evidence facility
will be in place That's correct. At the summit. That's correct. As well as in
in evidence, where the current evidence is located right now across the street will be moved over there. So not just the building, but also All the evidence will be moved. Correct. Which is a massive undertaking.
Huge undertaking. And I'm so grateful for chief and his team to be able to take that part on. They've done okay.
All
right, all right,
any further questions or comments regarding the site?
Seeing none,
we'll entertain a motion.
Motion by council member Hills, second by council member Beeson. Any further discussion?
Seeing none, all in favor?
Alright. That passes unanimously.
Thank you, mister Watson.
The next item, item number four, consideration of a resolution authorizing Fulton County to conduct a municipal general election on 11/04/2025
and associated runoff election if necessary on 12/02/2025
and establishing authority for the mayor and or city administrator
to sign a contract slash intergovernmental
agreement for conducting the election and runoff to include the cost
of one additional advanced
voting location. As you will recall,
back in March of this year,
you as a body voted to,
add an additional
advanced voting location
at East Roswell,
library,
for the November.
Obviously, we've spoken about this before, and this is just the actual intergovernmental agreement, contract, if you will,
to move forward with Fulton County
administering the election,
in November.
The, monies that are or funds that are required is the 41,770
for the additional voting location,
along with an estimate for the runoff election. The total cost right at about $254,000,
which is accounted for in our 2025
budget.
Any questions or comments
regarding CITA?
Seeing none, we'll go ahead and move forward with the motion.
Motion by council member Johnson, second by council member Beeson.
Any further discussions?
Seeing none, all in favor?
All right. That passes unanimously and that then does conclude
the committee's meeting for 07/15/2025.
We'll entertain a motion of adjournment.
Motion by council member Beeson, second by council member Sells. I think that's always.
All of them. All in favor.
Alright. Passes unanimously. Thank you very much.