[0:57] We're We're going to go ahead and call
this meeting to order. Um, we
[1:02] are going to start with a public
hearing, but before we do that, we want
[1:05] to make sure we have a determination of
a quorum. Uh, can you state that you're
[1:08] here or present starting with post one?
>> Beth Post one, present.
[1:13] » Mark Burrows, Post two, present.
[1:17] » Ryan Smith, Post three, present.
>> Amy Nunez, Post four, present.
[1:23] » Dwayne Post five, present.
>> Dwayne Brown, Post six, present.
[1:28] » Okay, we have a determination of a
quorum. We will go ahead and start our
[1:31] public hearing. Um, our public hearing
is for the millage rate. This is our
[1:35] third public hearing. Um,
just for the public to know, state your
[1:39] name and address if you want to be
recorded into the record.
[1:43] Um, and as well, that council will not
be able to respond during public
[1:47] hearing.
>> Thank you, Mayor and Council. Before we
[1:50] provide the public with the opportunity
to express their feedback,
[1:55] one more time, briefly, I'll go over the
different military scenarios, the
[2:00] projected revenue, or any decrease of
the budget that we need to consider. So,
[2:04] very briefly, at a rollback rate of
15.8, the rollback rate represents the
[2:09] military rate that will generate
essentially the same amount of property
[2:12] tax revenue as the previous year,
excluding revenue revenue growth from
[2:17] the reassessment.
So, at the rollback rate of 15.8,
[2:21] the 93% collection rate will be 3
3,674,694.
[2:29] So, the city needs to
consider a cut of 400,000
[2:36] 427,978.
[2:39] This scenario would not fully fund the
city's operational requirements and
[2:43] would likely require service reduction
uh the forward capital capital
[2:47] expenditures or the use of reserve
funds.
[2:51] For the proposed increase of 16.25
mills, the projection projection of 93%
[2:56] collection is 3,759,367.
[3:02] This still leaves a deficit of 343,305
at a 93% collection. While this reduces
[3:10] the funding gap, it does not fully
address the city's budgetary needs.
[3:14] For a military rate of 16.5,
the projected revenue for 93% collection
[3:21] is 3,817,203,
[3:25] which will result in a deficit of
285,469
[3:30] at 93% collection.
This opportunity effectively balanced
[3:35] the budget only if collection
significantly exceeds the historical
[3:38] trends.
Proposed increase of 16.75 mills,
[3:43] at a 93% collection, the projected
revenue will be 3,875,040,
[3:49] which is a deficit of 227,632
at a 93% collection. This option begins
[3:55] to create a more spine financial fashion
while still remaining relatively
[4:00] conservative. The proposed increase of
17.35
[4:04] mills at a 93% collection is 4,013,847
[4:10] with a deficit of 88,825
at 93% collection.
[4:14] This scenario substantially narrows the
gap between projected revenues and
[4:18] anticipated expenditures. And finally,
we have the proposed increase of 17.5
[4:23] mills
which at a 93% collection, the projected
[4:27] revenue will be 4,048,549
[4:31] with a deficit of 54,123
at 93% collection. This option most
[4:37] closely aligns the projected revenues
with anticipated expenditures under
[4:41] realistic collection assumption. And
now, I'd like to provide the opportunity
[4:45] I'd like to provide the public with the
opportunity to express their feedback in
[4:49] both on the proposed millage rate. Thank
you.
[4:55] » We'll We'll open it up for public uh
from the public hearing.
[5:09] » Abigail Smith, 1203 Park Boulevard.
This millage rate increase was planned
[5:15] back in October when the current budget
was created.
[5:19] Tax receipts in 2024 were just over 5.2
million dollars.
[5:24] With the same anticipated in the total
for the 2025 budget, 5.2 million
[5:30] dollars.
This time last year, the council
[5:34] approved the rollback millage rate of
15.827
[5:38] which should have kept the budget flat
again in 2026.
[5:43] But instead, a budget was created with
an anticipated
[5:47] tax receipts of 5.9
million dollars.
[5:52] 700,000
over the prior 2 years.
[5:56] It's because of that we are now facing a
military increase. $700,000.
[6:03] No effort has been made by staff or
council to revise the budget and prevent
[6:08] that from happening.
I set my personal household budget based
[6:13] on what I anticipated earning. And if I
earn more, I get to buy or do something
[6:18] that was not in my budget.
Or I save it for retirement. When I earn
[6:23] less, I have to cut back.
My home's value increased this year
[6:28] 95,950
[6:32] dollars.
Which is 25% more than last year.
[6:37] And it's going to cost me $800 in city
taxes additionally.
[6:43] My budget's now blown by a tax increase
I didn't anticipate.
[6:48] So, I'm going to have to make cuts to my
budget so I can pay my tax bill.
[6:53] Why should I have to do this when the
city won't reciprocate?
[6:57] I know you don't control the valuation
process.
[7:01] But you do control the budget and
military.
[7:04] I hope you vote to do the right thing
tonight.
[7:18] » Denise Phillips, 5272 Broad Street.
You guys are going to make some big
[7:23] decisions tonight.
And it is my opinion that you haven't
[7:28] been given the information to make that
decision.
[7:31] You were given
two major things last year that threw us
[7:37] over budget. Both are one-time
occurrences or what would be in the
[7:42] budget listed as extraordinary. It's
like you have a tree falling on your
[7:46] house and you got to pay $100,000 this
year
[7:50] to pay for it. Are you going to budget
that $100,000 next year?
[7:54] No.
And we're not being told what the
[7:56] $100,000 increase is for.
We were given financials in the package
[8:03] that agenda package online. It states
that we're at 33.33%
[8:08] of budget for revenues this year.
The math isn't mathing because we've
[8:12] only gotten 12.8. This is of no concern
because we get most of our revenue at
[8:17] the end of the year.
But it also says that we're at $25
[8:22] million
in
[8:24] um expenses. That's $23 million more
than what the numbers say.
[8:32] How are we as citizens supposed to
believe and accept that you want to dig
[8:37] deeper in our pockets when we can't even
get valid financials?
[8:45] I hope that y'all will consider that
people are having a hard time right now.
[8:50] Think about what data you have been
given and what you haven't been given.
[8:55] And think about what why we were over
budget last year before y'all dig in our
[9:01] pockets any deeper. Thanks.
[9:16] » Congratulations to the New York Knicks
who earned the title of 2026 NBA team
[9:24] cup champions. The team was led by Jalen
Brunson and I can think of several
[9:29] reasons why he also was named the MVP
player uh
[9:34] Gina Stroud Cott. I don't even know how
to say that, but anyway, so
[9:39] address on the file.
787 Forest Street, Stone Mountain,
[9:45] Georgia.
>> For the record, if this pertains to the
[9:48] millage rate, okay, I got it.
>> I will tie it all back together.
[9:53] Trust. Yes, he is a stand-up player on
and off the court.
[9:58] He leads with confidence and
demonstrates practicing hours and hours.
[10:03] In 2024, Jaylen signed a contract over
two uh for the 25-26 season through the
[10:09] 28-29 season for 4-year $156 million
contract. At the time, he was eligible
[10:17] for a 5-year contract of $269 million.
But, he decided to sign for the 4-year
[10:23] contract giving up approximately $113
million. He He made the decision to help
[10:30] the team.
We are the team.
[10:34] It allows funds to be available to help
the coaching staff and the owners to
[10:39] build a winning team. So, now you ask,
"Gina, well, why do you bring that up?"
[10:44] So glad you asked. Simply put, everyone
has a part to play.
[10:50] If you receive a paycheck from this
place, we help pay your salaries.
[10:56] So, if you increase the millage rate,
then you too should consider where and
[11:01] how your salary should be adjusted.
There have been discussions on cutting
[11:06] this program, cutting that event,
getting rid of that contract.
[11:11] So, as someone said on social media a
few days ago, only two of the six
[11:16] council members gave suggestions on how
some funds should be reallocated or
[11:21] increase the revenue. So, if there's
something that we all are missing, would
[11:26] you all please so kindly share so that
we can get a clear picture of where you
[11:30] all stand.
[11:48] » Hello, I'm Linda Jackson, 5244 Poplar
Springs Road. I don't have much to say.
[11:56] I understood years ago when there was a
need to raise the rate because of
[12:01] dropping revenue and housing values.
But my house has continued to increase
[12:08] in value, which raises my taxes, and
that is a strain, and I just wanted that
[12:14] to be on the record.
[12:28] » I don't have them now.
>> I haven't been on since I've been here,
[12:31] but I've definitely been online every
day.
[12:37] If we didn't make the money with the 13,
I'm sorry. My name is Vivian Howard
[12:42] Patterson at 473 Rock Road Terrace.
You weren't.
[12:47] If we didn't make the money
with the 5.1,
[12:53] what makes you think we going to make it
with this 17 month?
[12:58] We went over budget.
Yeah, but
[13:02] somebody got to get it in 2025.
But what about mid-2026?
[13:09] Because we still do not We still not
getting
[13:13] a financial report. I'll do it.
This piece is here, piece is here,
[13:19] don't work.
It don't work. We got a serious problem
[13:23] in this city. Everybody's taxes is going
up.
[13:27] And God knows
I wanted the elders in one of these
[13:31] communities.
I don't have that kind of money. We
[13:35] can't pay that kind of tax.
It's crazy and it don't make sense. And
[13:39] we need to consider our elders, our
young ones,
[13:43] and even the young people that come into
our city.
[13:47] They didn't have that kind of money.
See, this is what
[13:50] The money is got to be fixed. Our money
and our power need to be fixed. And your
[13:57] tax Your tax is correct.
It isn't. I don't know. We can't own our
[14:01] own property in this town.
We need to get this straight.
[14:06] Cuz it's not making sense in my head
with my numbers. How many of y'all
[14:10] coming in? But we don't mind. Y'all
don't mind it.
[14:13] And he listens to this.
It's not making sense.
[14:17] And it do want to make you want to move
out of the city.
[14:22] I didn't get too long ago. I raised all
my kids up here in the city. I raised
[14:26] three kids up here now.
It's I can't afford to live here
[14:31] anymore.
[14:34] But it's Savannah. I love Savannah. I've
been here over 27 years.
[14:40] Y'all got to do better with this money.
Y'all complaining and complaining about
[14:44] the old.
We still got old people on camera.
[14:48] It's not getting better.
It's not.
[14:52] Every time
somebody says something about the
[14:56] budget, but we keep ignoring it.
Y'all still keep spending.
[15:00] He's spending.
But y'all ain't working that problem
[15:04] out. That 17 did y'all try to work
something out with him?
[15:07] It don't work.
It didn't work with the 15. And it's not
[15:10] working because people cannot afford to
pay it.
[15:13] So, we need to come up with a new plan.
Work on that.
[15:35] » This is Thomas. I'm speaking under my
first amendment rights and my civil
[15:40] rights. My address is 110 Terrace,
Ellenwood, Georgia 30083.
[15:48] There is no law that I have to say my
house address for my comments to be on
[15:54] this open records meeting minutes.
In terms of I do what every everything
[16:00] everybody else said.
And most of the voters have older people
[16:04] that have been to all these meetings for
years.
[16:07] Even new people coming and telling them
the same thing.
[16:10] What is appalling to me
Y'all should have gone to bed.
[16:15] Three of you up here
three of you, four of you new.
[16:19] I'm just going to bed.
The uh surprising thing is
[16:26] we have not paid back the money from
2023 audit, $817,000.
[16:33] We have not paid These are illegal
funds that the auditor said.
[16:38] It's not in the budget.
Are we paying for that through this tax
[16:42] increase?
The 2024 auditor said the same thing.
[16:47] Are we paying for that
out of this tax increase? In other
[16:51] words, we're saying to us, intelligent
people, telling intelligent people,
[16:56] "Oh, we can spend y'all money, but then
we're going to make y'all pay for the
[16:59] overage.
We're going to make y'all pay for that."
[17:02] The other thing I noticed, it's related.
Hope said, "Give me the financial
[17:07] report." One of the other citizens said,
"Give me the financial report."
[17:11] The financial report that's in this
meeting today
[17:14] is not a balanced budget report.
It's general funds.
[17:20] We cannot see slots. So, big problem.
[17:24] All the data is not in here and y'all
are spending our slots money on these
[17:28] new projects, but you're not even
putting out
[17:31] how much money we have in slots in the
financial report that we're reporting on
[17:35] today.
That's a big problem. It looks like
[17:39] we're inspiring you to do something.
And I guess what's going to be next.
[17:45] Keep it up.
I'm doing my research and other people
[17:49] are, too.
Y'all need to do the right thing. As I
[17:53] heard people say,
"Yeah, they may have to move, but maybe
[17:57] that's the plan. Maybe y'all want us to
move."
[18:01] To relocate us, so new people can come
in here and y'all can raise their rent
[18:05] and maybe they can afford it.
What is the agenda, guys?
[18:09] We invested in this city, but we're not
being invested back.
[18:14] For what we put into it.
And and you all should be ashamed of
[18:18] yourselves to not listen to us.
A fraction of 1% is not enough.
[18:25] And because of the revolution is in the
agenda after this meeting, it looks like
[18:29] y'all already made your mind up, like I
said last time.
[18:32] What we say up here don't matter, but
it's on record. That's okay.
[18:36] Thank you.
[18:53] » There are
Excuse me. If there are no other public
[18:56] comments for the millage rate
discussion, is there an adjournment to
[19:00] conclude the public hearing?
>> I move to adjourn the public hearing.
[19:04] » Second.
>> All right. There's a motion and a
[19:06] second. Any further discussion?
Okay, we'll call for the vote. Council
[19:10] member Poston.
>> Council member Poston, yes.
[19:13] » Council member Poston, yes.
>> Ryan Smith post three, yes.
[19:17] » Caitlin Yancey post four, yes.
[19:22] » Elaine Bunn post six, yes.
>> Okay, that's a unanimous vote to
[19:25] conclude the public hearing.
Uh we will now move into our regular
[19:30] council work session meeting. So, we'll
call this meeting to order. We'll do
[19:34] another determination of a quorum
starting with post one.
[19:38] » Beth post one, present.
>> Mark Aryanez post two, present.
[19:41] » Ryan Smith post three, present.
>> Caitlin Yancey post four, present.
[19:47] » Donald post five, present.
>> Elaine Bunn post six, present.
[19:51] » Okay,
uh that's a unanimous vote. We have a
[19:54] determination of a quorum. We will now
have a 30-seconds moment of silence.
[20:34] That's our 30-second moment of silence.
We now stand for the pledge.
[20:58] We will now open our meeting for
citizens comments. Uh if you did not
[21:01] have a chance to get a citizens comment
card, they're out back, but once
[21:05] citizens comments start, we will not
take any more citizens comments. The
[21:09] rules of the quorum are on the monitor
in the back. Each citizen will be
[21:14] granted three minutes. Please state your
name and address for the record to be
[21:19] recorded into the minutes.
All right, we will now open it up for
[21:22] citizens comments.
>> Mayor, council
[21:38] My name is Beverly Howard Patterson. I
live at 473 Rock Road Terrace, Stone
[21:43] Mountain.
My topic is about the finance.
[21:48] We need
a report.
[21:53] We need to know what's going on in the
city.
[21:56] Bottom line.
I have asked
[21:59] since the beginning of the year
and I feel like when I come up here and
[22:04] put my cards on the table you guys are
saying
[22:06] I don't think that you need to know.
I don't know what y'all do in that back
[22:11] room
or anything like that,
[22:14] but up here we don't see it. We don't
see it on paper. The paper that you give
[22:19] us is not what we're looking for.
We need a better financial report than
[22:24] what you presented to us today.
And like this um Thomas stated,
[22:31] I spoke about the money.
You know, we granted the
[22:36] 2 million.
I haven't seen that on not one report
[22:40] yet.
So, we want to know what the 2 million
[22:43] is It's spread out to where it's going.
[22:49] Can we get a better financial report
sometime in this fiscal year before this
[22:54] year is over with?
And another question,
[22:58] when is the 2025 audit report is due?
[23:19] » Hello, I'm Ginger Criswell, 6535 James
B. Rivers.
[23:24] Um, I mean, I'm here. I've talked about
it many, many times, as you know, the
[23:29] area where James B. Rivers sits,
Memorial Drive. That area is a major
[23:35] entryway to the
biggest tourist attraction in the state
[23:39] of Georgia, which makes me think
that that we could get funding, we could
[23:46] get assistance, maybe from some of the
senators. We've got one that's up for
[23:50] re-election. He might be able to help
with doing something to really, really
[23:55] redo that whole intersection right
there, but also that whole area, the
[24:01] little side street that goes off between
JBR and the new BP,
[24:08] is
really
[24:10] I mean, I've never been to a ghetto,
but I feel like I am when I drive down
[24:16] that road. I don't know what a ghetto is
like exactly, but I imagine people are
[24:21] doing drugs, there's graffiti, there's
garbage, there are vehicles parked there
[24:27] that shouldn't be parked there. There
are Yes, uh yesterday there were at
[24:31] least three shopping carts piled up,
higher than me, with all kinds of crap.
[24:38] And now my neighbor said he saw a
prostitute having sex right next to the
[24:43] dumpster.
Now, all of this is visible from
[24:47] Memorial Drive. They go in and out
behind the dumpster,
[24:51] and somebody else told me they've
actually seen them doing drugs. I saw
[24:56] them doing drugs before it was a BP,
when it was the
[25:00] um
the whatever it used to be. Um and they
[25:04] shut that down and they tried to do
renovations, but how how can two months
[25:10] together? I don't feel comfortable. I
didn't go there today to get a diet
[25:15] Coke. I drove
way down Memorial Drive because I felt
[25:19] safer.
And um
[25:21] I mean that maybe because I'm a teacher.
Um
[25:25] every day and they're yelling at me. But
anyway, um um
[25:28] So
but um
[25:30] but anyways, I didn't I didn't want to
get, you know,
[25:35] followed or something. So, or you know,
anyway, but it's it I would like for
[25:41] every one of you to please please drive
down that street.
[25:46] Go down All you have to do is get on
James B. Rivers. We need to work with
[25:50] the county to annex that so that we can
get some control over it. Until I
[25:55] started going before the county, sending
not before the county, but sending, you
[26:00] know, emails to them and to the city
council,
[26:03] they
it was never even on their radar at all.
[26:07] Now, I changed my mind. They come out
and do a cleanup, but the street has no
[26:10] name. First of all, it needs a name. It
needs a stop sign.
[26:14] I mean, they I had people from the
county go, "Well, we if it doesn't have
[26:17] a name, we can't clean that." So,
>> Thank you.
[26:21] » please do that.
Please drive down there.
[26:24] Okay, thanks.
[26:27] » I know what the comment is at the time.
>> Okay.
[26:32] There There are no other citizens'
comments. We'll move forward to the
[26:35] review of the journal.
[26:40] » Good evening, Mayor and Council. You
have before you the May 28th meeting
[26:43] minutes requesting your consideration
and approval.
[26:47] » I move to approve the May 28th, 2026
meeting minutes.
[26:52] » I second.
>> All right, there's a motion and a
[26:54] second. Any discussion? We'll call for
the vote starting with post one.
[26:58] » Post one, yes.
>> Mark Brionis, post two, yes.
[27:02] » Ryan Smith, post three, yes.
>> Katie Newsome, post four, yes.
[27:10] » Post five.
[27:13] » Post five, yes.
>> Post six, yes.
[27:18] » All right, that's a unanimous vote for
the consideration of an action on the
[27:21] request to approve the May 28th, 2026
meeting minutes.
[27:25] » Your next set of minutes is from the
June 2nd, 2026 meeting requesting your
[27:29] consideration and approval.
>> I move to approve the June 2nd, 2026
[27:35] meeting minutes.
>> I second it.
[27:38] » All right, there's a motion and a
second. Any further discussion? We'll
[27:41] call for the vote starting with post
one.
[27:43] » Post one, yes.
>> Mark Mark Brionis, post two, yes.
[27:47] » Ryan Smith, post three, yes.
>> Katie Newsome, post four, yes.
[27:53] » Post five, yes.
>> Post
[27:56] six, yes.
[28:00] » All right, that's a unanimous vote for
the consideration of an action on the
[28:03] request to approve the June 2nd, 2026
meeting minutes.
[28:07] » You next have the June 4th, 2026 meeting
minutes for your consideration and
[28:12] approval.
>> I move to approve the June 4th, 2026
[28:17] meeting minutes.
I second it.
[28:22] » We have a motion and a second. Any
further discussion?
[28:25] We'll call for the vote starting with
post one.
[28:27] » Post one, yes.
>> Mark Brionis, post two, yes.
[28:31] » Ryan Smith, post three, yes.
>> I abstain because I was absent that
[28:36] meeting.
[28:39] » Post five, yes.
>> Post six, yes.
[28:43] » All right, we have a
five
[28:47] person vote with one abstention on the
consideration of a on a request to
[28:51] approve the June 4th, 2026 meeting
minutes.
[28:55] » And lastly, you have the June 8th, 2026
meeting minutes for your consideration
[28:59] and approval.
>> I move to approve the June 8th, 2026
[29:04] meeting minutes.
>> I second it.
[29:07] » We have a motion and a second. Any
further discussion?
[29:10] If not, we'll call for the vote starting
with post one.
[29:12] » I abstain for that particular date. I
was not at the meeting.
[29:16] » Councilman Reynolds, post two, yes.
>> Ryan Smith, post three, yes.
[29:20] » Tania post four, yes.
>> Councilman Post five, yes.
[29:25] » Councilwoman Post six, yes.
>> Okay, we have a five yes and one
[29:29] abstention for consideration of an
action on the request to approve the
[29:33] June 8th, 2026 meeting minutes.
>> Thank you.
[29:36] » All right, thank you. All right, we have
reading of the communications.
[29:40] » There are none.
>> Okay, we'll move forward to the adoption
[29:43] of the agenda of the day.
>> One revision to the agenda. We would
[29:46] like to add the emergency repair of the
HVAC system at the GMC building.
[29:52] Under um
I'm sorry.
[29:55] At the depot.
Under new business item number one.
[30:01] » So, I move to adopt the agenda of the
day adding
[30:05] the GEFA
funding for the HPHVAC
[30:10] unit for the Stone Mountain Depot under
new business item one.
[30:14] » I second it.
>> We have a motion and a second. Any um
[30:19] Any further discussion?
We'll call for the vote starting with
[30:21] post one.
>> Councilwoman Post one, yes.
[30:24] » Councilman Reynolds, post two, yes.
>> Ryan Smith, post three, yes.
[30:28] » Tania post four, yes.
>> Councilman Post five, yes.
[30:32] » Councilwoman Post six, yes.
>> Thank you.
[30:35] » Okay, we have a unanimous vote here to
add uh item under new business, H- the
[30:40] emergency repair for the GE
FA funding for the HVAC system at the
[30:46] train depot.
Okay. All right. We will now move
[30:51] forward to our committee discussions.
[30:56] If there are any.
[30:59] Or does Council choose Well,
I want to table community discussions
[31:04] and move forward to community
discussions and I can we can open it up
[31:07] for discussion.
[31:11] » We only have one.
>> We only have one. All right, we'll go
[31:13] with community All right, we'll go with
community discussion.
[31:17] And we have Solomon Community Garden.
[31:23] » Council and Mayor,
>> Good evening.
[31:27] » I
you get our report for the record.
[31:32] There are a couple of items that I would
like to
[31:35] add to it. Um
[31:39] I want to update you between what's
happened
[31:43] since they were committed.
And first I want to thank the public
[31:47] works for
for the great job they did
[31:50] mowing and taking care of the bathrooms
and helping them get ready for the
[31:55] brunch that we had
uh over 50 families here from our
[31:59] community garden that 50.
And uh here at the park.
[32:05] Uh I want to thank the Mayor and the
city council members who
[32:09] uh took their time to participate in the
brunch.
[32:12] And
with y'all there, I really appreciate
[32:16] it.
[32:18] The brunch was attended by
60 people.
[32:23] Um
our gardeners
[32:25] once and volunteer that wanted to pull
it all together.
[32:29] And
uh
[32:32] we were very pleased with the outcome.
Um in fact, many of the gardeners have
[32:37] already met.
So, we will do another one in the fall.
[32:45] I want to note that
on the 27th of
[32:50] June, there will be a planning meeting
in the future.
[32:55] presentation
on collecting seeds
[32:59] by uh
the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and Food
[33:03] Well Alliance.
And also, uh we had a great talk
[33:09] last weekend.
Uh we had Carrie Engel from the
[33:13] Chattahoochee Riverkeeper.
And they talked She talked about
[33:17] alternative methods for mosquito
control.
[33:20] And that was attended by 24 people.
[33:25] Uh lastly, we have three new interns.
And I think that is a real blessing. Uh
[33:32] it's
uh it's the first time we've ever gotten
[33:34] three interns from Master Gardeners
from the Extension Office.
[33:39] And uh their names are Family Pearson
Clark,
[33:43] uh from Dr. Ramona Menix,
and uh Mr. Reginald Stephen.
[33:49] And I believe they have a strong array
of uh
[33:53] good background and what they're going
to be bringing to the table.
[33:57] I think it's going to be happening
today.
[33:59] Any questions?
>> We'll open up for questions if there are
[34:03] any. So, I'm going to close it.
>> Um I've had a chance to attend that
[34:08] event and it was really great. Uh
good chance to really see how that
[34:12] garden makes an impact on the community
and I really love the fact that people
[34:17] maybe came there just to lease a spot or
rent a spot, but from what I gathered,
[34:21] they now have developed some great
friendships. So, I was excited to see
[34:25] that and share that with my community.
Uh to let them know that it's available.
[34:28] A lot of people don't know. So, we need
to showcase it more. But again, it was a
[34:31] great great event. Thank you. Thank you
for all that you do and your committees
[34:36] and all that's involved. You did a great
job.
[34:39] » I have no questions. Thank you for the
information. I look forward to I didn't
[34:42] get to make this one, but I will look
forward to hopefully maybe a fall one as
[34:46] well. Thank you.
>> I have no questions, but thank you for
[34:50] what you do.
>> Yeah, I'm sorry. I just the event I had
[34:53] a family reunion eating food somewhere
else.
[34:56] But I didn't get an opportunity to come
out. I'll definitely make it next time.
[35:00] Thank you.
[35:07] » I enjoyed it.
>> Great event. Thank you so much.
[35:13] » If that's all for community discussions,
we'll now move to our staff reports.
[35:27] » Good evening, Mayor Council.
>> Good evening.
[35:30] » I'm here to give you your staff reports
for uh
[35:33] public safety.
I'll start off with our uh city Stone
[35:37] Mountain crime statistics for 2026 for
the month of May.
[35:42] Uh these statistics include our diverse
group A crimes, which is our national
[35:45] incident-based uh reporting systems,
which used to be uh
[35:50] FBI part one crimes, and simple assault
and frauds, which are our diverse group
[35:55] B crimes.
Uh we had a total of three aggravated
[35:59] assaults, uh six assault and batteries,
one burglary non-forced entry, 12
[36:06] larceny and theft, and uh four frauds
reports.
[36:13] And uh
as far as our police statistics
[36:18] for our shift activity,
we had a total of 189 calls, 26 arrests,
[36:25] 370 citations, 140 warning citations,
and
[36:32] 80 parking citations. We had 189
incident reports, 11 domestic calls, and
[36:39] eight accidents.
Also, for the month of May for code
[36:44] enforcement, we had a total of 57 new
cases.
[36:48] We had a total of 20 citations issued,
a total of 54 road signs removed. Also,
[36:55] for blight nuisances,
the
[36:59] 935 Main Street, 900 VFW Drive, and 5471
Orr Street.
[37:05] Uh those properties have been designated
as blight properties. The property
[37:10] owners have 30 days from receipt of
their notification to request an appeal
[37:14] hearing before municipal.
Also, there's a nuisance abatement
[37:19] hearing for 806 Wood Avenue.
Uh that has been reset for July.
[37:24] That concludes my
[37:28] report for monthly stats. I'm ready to
entertain any questions that you may
[37:31] have.
>> Okay, we'll open it up for questions
[37:34] starting with Councilman
>> I have a question, but thank you. Yeah,
[37:37] I just want to I want to say thank you
for all that you all do. Thank you for
[37:41] the police officers. Each day you guys
go out and risk your lives. So, we want
[37:45] to let you know we really appreciate all
you guys do.
[37:47] » Appreciate it.
>> I have no questions. Thank you.
[37:50] » No questions, Chief. Thank you.
>> Councilman
[37:54] Do you have anything that we can do to
help that street that runs over there by
[37:58] Miss Criswell? Is there any of that mean
in in the city?
[38:02] » No.
Uh J. Arthur Memorial after certain uh
[38:06] point.
>> And that's the side street that she's
[38:08] talking about.
>> It's outside of the city limits.
[38:09] » It's outside of our jurisdiction.
That'll be the county.
[38:12] And that's one of the problems that the
has been going on for a while.
[38:16] And
Ginger has been This Criswell, sorry,
[38:19] has been
uh
[38:21] great advocate for the city trying to
make sure we get a and she's been
[38:26] communicating outside of jurisdiction,
but there's it's outside of our
[38:30] jurisdiction. Now,
if you would like to take the time to
[38:33] try and get with other constituents to
other elected officials and try to send
[38:36] some emails and see what possibly you
guys can work out to help out as much as
[38:40] possible. That'd be great. But as of
right now, that's just not in our
[38:43] jurisdiction.
Maybe we can work on trying to annex it
[38:45] into our jurisdiction and then we got
more say so on it.
[38:48] » Okay, I just want to make sure that we
none of that's
[38:51] » Yeah.
Yeah.
[38:55] » That's it. Thank you. Thank you, Chief.
>> The only
[38:58] uh
The only comment I would make is
[39:01] that activity is happening at
2 ft outside of the road.
[39:20] » Yes, sir. But again,
uh within the power that you possess
[39:24] within your position, uh I would
like assistance from you all to be able
[39:29] to reach out to other constituents
uh within your field, other other
[39:34] persons or personnel or elected
officials or something like that. Send
[39:37] them emails so we can have pressure come
on all sides to be able to have some
[39:41] more assistance than what we may need.
[39:53] Excuse me.
>> No question.
[39:57] » Yes, ma'am.
>> I Thank you so much. And and on on the
[40:01] discussion JBR, I do appreciate the idea
of annexation for us to be able to kind
[40:06] of clean up our our boundaries.
Um but also as as I guess in this
[40:10] position, I will do my part on reaching
out to uh our commissioner and our CEO
[40:15] of the county to see if we can get some
assistance on cleaning up our edges. So,
[40:19] thank you.
>> Yes, sir. You have a great evening.
[40:21] Well, I'll see you I'll see you soon.
>> Thank you.
[40:23] » Thank you.
>> All right. We'll now move forward to the
[40:26] city manager's report.
[40:36] » And the city manager's report tonight,
there are some statistics with for the
[40:41] number of business licenses that have
been renewed and also the number of open
[40:45] records requests that the city clerk
office has handled in the period of May
[40:49] 14th to June 11th.
A very quick update that in May also our
[40:54] city clerk attended the annual
recognition ceremony at the Georgia
[40:58] State Capitol, where city clerks from
across the state were acknowledged by
[41:02] Governor Brian Kemp for their service
and also contribution to local
[41:06] government.
On the side of human resource, we had
[41:10] representatives from Georgia Municipal
Association who came to city hall to
[41:14] educate the dedicated employees and also
the new employees that we have recently
[41:18] hired on their benefits and the program
that we're currently running
[41:25] for the city of Stone Mountain.
Let's go to public works, please.
[41:30] Public works department and also storm
water continue to make significant
[41:33] progress on regulatory compliance. So,
city staff coordinated with DeKalb
[41:38] County Watershed Management and obtained
access to the county's GIS system,
[41:43] which is very important for us. We're
aware of the infrastructure ownership
[41:47] and also the maintenance
responsibilities.
[41:50] We're also providing access to
information regarding the water and also
[41:54] the sewer system
for the city.
[41:57] Staff completed and submitted the city's
storm water management plan to the
[42:01] Georgia Environmental Protection
Division. This is a mandatory report. In
[42:05] addition, staff finalized the city's
annual MS4 report, which documents the
[42:10] action taken during the previous
reporting
[42:13] period to comply with the state
stormwater requirements.
[42:16] City staff also successfully obtained
level one B for stormwater
[42:21] certification, allowing them to conduct
construction and site inspections for
[42:25] the city, and also completed level two
plan review certification.
[42:30] This is again within our stormwater
department. And the new
[42:34] lady that we have recently hired in the
office is the one that received the
[42:37] certification.
Public Works and Stormwater staff
[42:40] responded to several citizens and also
Police Department concerns related to
[42:45] drainage and stormwater issues,
including site visits at Rock Borough
[42:49] Terrace, Rich Avenue, Lucille Avenue,
Cheremule Drive, and also
[42:55] Carillon Court.
Facility maintenance for Public Works
[43:00] and infrastructure improvements remain a
priority for the department. Public
[43:03] Works team is working with the DeKalb
County to restore water service to the
[43:07] Medlock Park restrooms, and also
coordinating with Georgia Power to
[43:11] restore the electrical services to
Medlock Park restrooms.
[43:15] Staff also coordinated with the Handyman
Training School
[43:19] on the overall renovation of the depot,
which this project is related with the
[43:23] opening of the future museum and visitor
center.
[43:26] I'd like to make a note of the next
paragraph. There is a minor mistake. The
[43:31] employee that we have hired in the month
of May is Eric, and he is the Public
[43:35] Works Supervisor. I just wanted to make
this note.
[43:38] Next, we move forward with Public Works
completed
[43:41] um
numerous roadway maintenance projects,
[43:45] including the pothole repairs of
Shepherd Road, Rock Borough Drive, and
[43:49] also Fork Street.
And staff also removed several trees and
[43:53] debris from Stone Mountain Side Drive,
and repaired six streetlights in the
[43:58] city.
The department received an average 14
[44:02] secret fix services requesting in public
the request involved clogging storm
[44:06] drains, fallen trees, roadway
right-of-way debris, and low-hanging
[44:10] branches. But we do not allow about
SeeClickFix. We'll keep educating the
[44:15] community, and we'll keep posting in
social media.
[44:19] And advise the community to please
submit SeeClickFix tickets.
[44:23] Some of us are even going on vacation or
overseeing the day-to-day operations,
[44:27] and we're still receiving either email
or papers. We'll keep educating the
[44:32] community, but if any council member
receives any complaint or report, please
[44:37] ask the residents to report to the
SeeClickFix cuz then they will get a
[44:40] little bit more of a successful project.
Next, planning and zoning.
[44:45] Very important updates.
Comprehensive Plan. Atlanta Regional
[44:49] Commission will be hosting an open house
meeting on June 23rd, so the community
[44:54] is invited
to attend
[44:57] that meeting at 5380 Studios at 5:30
p.m. Atlanta Regional Commission will
[45:03] have posters and supporting materials
for the current status of the
[45:06] Comprehensive Plan.
Suggestions that have been made, and
[45:09] kind of this is an opportunity for the
community again to go and provide
[45:14] a final I'll say final overview of the
Comprehensive Plan before Atlanta
[45:19] Regional Commission and city staff
starts actually putting the draft
[45:23] document together, which will be
presented in October to council.
[45:27] Historic historical survey, the historic
district survey is scheduled for June
[45:31] 15th and 16th. And during this effort,
every property within the historic
[45:36] district will be surveyed.
Staff is con- consulting
[45:41] Staff Staff and the consultant that
are working on the survey will collect
[45:46] data regarding the property conditions,
and will take at least two pictures of
[45:51] each property.
We'll also do a social media post so
[45:54] people are aware so these are staff
representatives and consultant
[45:58] officials working for the city,
partnering with the city
[46:01] when such visits are made.
[46:06] Another important update on the planning
department, if any person is interested
[46:11] resident is interested to serve on the
planning committee and the HPC, please
[46:15] let us know cuz we have several vacant
positions within both
[46:19] committees and we need to move forward
with our meetings, but we do need also
[46:23] members to serve.
So, if you have any person that is
[46:26] interested, please connect this person
with me.
[46:30] And then we have permits and we'll see
the number of permits and collection
[46:34] revenue of 7
100 7,500
[46:40] for the month of May.
[46:49] Then we have court
and Ms. Bridgette Tucker is the
[46:53] department head for our court
department.
[46:56] Um you'll see the statistics for the
month of April, which were not included
[46:59] in the previous uh city manager's
report, but also you'll see the current
[47:03] one for the month of May.
So, the court days have been held for
[47:09] April on April 16th, 23rd.
We have an assignment calendar for the
[47:14] 20 20 and also on the 20 20 and also the
trial compliance calendar and you'll see
[47:19] the different uh the number of people
the defendants that were scheduled for
[47:24] that day and also the total citations
that have been issued for that day.
[47:30] Um
final amnesty statistics. Amnesty ran
[47:34] for the month of March and those who had
to come to court attended court on April
[47:39] 30th. So, there were 59 citations were
handled during the amnesty program with
[47:44] 47 paid in full.
And then we have the statistics for the
[47:48] month of May
with the arrangement calendar of May
[47:52] 21st and also trial compliance again May
21st.
[47:56] And the different number of total
citations that have been handled.
[48:02] Next, we're moving forward to the
capital projects. The latest and very
[48:07] positive news is that the new city hall
parking lot is open.
[48:15] Finally.
And now it's available to the public.
[48:18] Very good note to pass on. We're about
to put up a sign. The problem is they
[48:22] see the whole parking or public parking.
As I see today, they are driving slowly
[48:26] and wondering should they go through the
park if they're going to get a ticket or
[48:29] not. No, it's open.
It's open within the social media post,
[48:32] but give us some time. We're going to
order the signs on both streets so
[48:35] people are aware that this is a public
parking for city hall.
[48:38] Long range project, we're in the process
of finalizing the agreement.
[48:42] As it is starting to have a kickoff
meeting with JLL.
[48:45] In which we're going to discuss the
future RFP. So, we're really pushing on
[48:49] this project. Street paving, we're
moving forward with Rich Meer.
[48:54] Um
the paving of Rich Meer Drive. And
[48:58] within 2 weeks, we're about to know
exactly the day
[49:01] the paving will start. So, we're going
to do another announcement on the social
[49:04] media and we're going to notify the
residents of that neighborhood.
[49:08] Um Depot and also museum, uh we're
targeting this Friday celebration for
[49:14] Juneteenth, which can go to the next
next page, please.
[49:19] We'll see the flyer for Juneteenth.
Uh we're going to have several special
[49:23] guests from the county.
The three key speakers, Madam CEO will
[49:28] be one of them. Commissioner Shakira
Johnson is sponsor of the Juneteenth
[49:31] event and we appreciate her support.
The special event will be kind of around
[49:37] the the gazebo between the depot and
also the gazebo green space.
[49:41] It will be this Friday
um between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. And
[49:46] residents are invited first to attend
the ceremonial speech and later to do a
[49:50] tour preview of the museum where there
will be an exhibit of Johnston
[49:56] and historic Sherman town.
The historic uh society committee are
[50:00] the ones assisting with putting this
exhibit, organizing the exhibit together
[50:04] at the depot. And they have some
important pictures of different events
[50:08] that council has attended.
[50:12] And this is the end of the
of the city manager's report.
[50:17] Let me know if you have any questions.
>> We'll open it up for questions starting
[50:21] with post one.
[50:27] » I don't have any questions at this
moment.
[50:31] » Uh no no no questions. The only thing
that I would ask is that I did get uh I
[50:36] was reached out to by a neighbor for the
Hearthstone um
[50:41] uh drain uh
storm water issue. And I just wanted to
[50:45] keep a reminder of I understand that we
are being strategic and careful about
[50:50] what projects we're doing, but um at the
very least, if we're going to close that
[50:54] out, if we could just like clean that
area up
[50:57] and just you know, keep make sure it's
safe cuz we kind of started it. And I'm
[51:02] not saying that we need to
I don't know what the full plan was, but
[51:06] at the end if we could just get it
closed up
[51:09] at the very least, I I'd appreciate
that.
[51:11] Thank you.
>> Uh my comment is uh on page 33
[51:17] staff also responded to after-hour
emergencies including a down tree on
[51:22] Ridge Avenue and trash debris control
efforts on Main Street and at Lena Mason
[51:28] Park during Memorial Day weekend.
I just want everybody to understand that
[51:34] they are on
uh
[51:37] 24-hour
clock and they do anything that the city
[51:41] needs. Thank you.
>> Post four.
[51:45] » Uh just a few things. I want to
emphasize the importance of the citizens
[51:48] using SeeClickFix. I know that it is a
great way for our citizens to report
[51:54] things when they see them, whether their
lights not working or whatever.
[51:59] But you get immediate you get an email
back from them and then you actually
[52:04] have that communication that has been
resolved. So it's not left hanging out
[52:08] there. That's one thing. On the historic
preservation one, they're going around
[52:12] taking pictures. Do they have
identification on them so that
[52:16] people know who they are?
>> They they will. They will.
[52:21] » Okay. And then
I had one
[52:26] one more thing I wanted to ask on
communications with Briana. Can we make
[52:30] sure that we're putting new information
on the bulletin board out here on the
[52:34] pathway of things that's happening in
the city because there's nothing been
[52:37] posted since
I think probably January or February. So
[52:40] it'd be great to get information up
there on that. But thank you.
[52:48] » Post five.
[52:51] » For the next report, can we get an
advance update?
[52:57] » Sure. I'll connect with you after the
meeting so we discuss the formats and
[53:01] the type of report that you're seeking,
sir. Absolutely, yes.
[53:08] » Yeah, thank you.
>> Post six.
[53:11] » I don't have any questions, but I would
like to say that I met the two young
[53:15] ladies this morning and yes, they do
have ID because I asked how far away
[53:21] they live in my neighborhood
and they did explain to me that they
[53:25] were working for the city
and
[53:28] just taking pictures of all the
historical homes
[53:31] here. So yes, they did have ID.
>> Thank you.
[53:35] » Okay.
One last Did you
[53:38] Not sure if you mentioned it or not. Did
you mention the JBR enforce that Cinco?
[53:44] » We do.
[54:19] Thank you.
[54:22] All right.
Um
[54:25] we'll now move forward with the uh
We did operations report. We'll move to
[54:29] the next item on the city manager's
report, which is the April 2020
[54:33] 26 financial presentation.
>> Good evening, Mayor and Council.
[54:39] I will be presenting the financial
analysis for general fund ending April
[54:43] 30th, 2026.
I would like to correct the 2026
[54:48] expended column.
Um the budget expended on the budget
[54:53] expenditure analysis from 25,551,122.83
[54:59] to 2,551,122.83.
[55:04] And there should be an updated copy in
your packet.
[55:09] Okay, and we'll begin.
As of April 30th, 2026, the city has
[55:14] completed approximately 4 months of the
fiscal year or 33.33%
[55:19] of the budget period.
Overall revenues totaled approximately
[55:23] $865,345,
[55:27] representing 12.84%
of the annual budget. Revenue
[55:32] collections are consistent with
expectations for this point in the
[55:36] fiscal year As property tax revenues
have not yet been received and several
[55:42] revenue sources are seasonal in nature.
Total expenditures through April were
[55:48] approximately 2.55 million or 33.4%
of
[55:55] Excuse me, the annual budget. Overall
expenditures are consistent with the
[55:59] straight line benchmark for this point
in the fiscal year. However, variances
[56:05] are attributable to timing differences,
annual expenditures paid early in the
[56:09] fiscal year, etc.
By department, on the expenditure side,
[56:15] we can see administration expenditures
are at 27.66
[56:19] overall of their budget and
and below the straight line benchmark.
[56:24] Buildings expenditures are at 36.32%
of the budget, slightly above the
[56:30] straight line benchmark, due primarily
to purchased and contractual services.
[56:36] General government expenditures are at
40.39% of the budget. This is above the
[56:41] straight line benchmark. Variances are
being monitored and include
[56:45] timing-related expenditures
and allocation adjustments. Court
[56:50] expenditures are at 27.58%
of the budget and remain below that
[56:55] straight line benchmark.
Public safety expenditures are at 35.52%
[57:01] of budget, slightly
exceeding that straight line benchmark.
[57:05] Finance is reviewing expenditure
classifications and payroll allocations
[57:10] to ensure costs are reflected in the
most appropriate budget categories and
[57:15] that departmental expenditures are
accurately reported. Public Works
[57:20] expenditures are at 28.744%
of their budget and remain below the
[57:26] straight line benchmark. And Parks
expenditures are 18.53%
[57:31] of the budget and remain well below the
straight-line benchmark.
[57:35] Staff will continue to monitor
departmental expenditures, reviewing
[57:40] expenditure classifications for
consistency with the uniform chart of
[57:44] accounts, and identifying any budget
amendments that may be necessary as part
[57:49] of the mid-year budget review process.
During the review process, Finance did
[57:55] identify opportunities to improve
expenditure classifications within
[57:58] certain departments. We are working with
those departments to ensure expenditures
[58:03] are coded to the most appropriate
accounts, which improves budget
[58:07] transparency, financial reporting, and
future budget development.
[58:12] These adjustments do not impact total
expenditures, but improve the accuracy
[58:17] of reporting.
Also, I would like to bring to the mayor
[58:20] and council's attention that a
resolution will be presented tonight for
[58:23] public safety, seeking approval of a
confiscated asset fund and account. At
[58:29] the first meeting in July, Finance and
the city will be bringing a resolution
[58:33] for the Georgia Fund 1
for three accounts. It will be the Small
[58:37] City IGA, SPLOST 2, and General Fund.
And a resolution also authorizing the
[58:43] opening of a separate bank account for
the Small City IGA for consideration of
[58:47] approval.
I'll be happy to try to answer any
[58:50] questions you might.
[58:53] » We'll open it up for questions starting
with Post 1.
[58:56] » I know that
we do definitely have a lot of comments
[58:59] with the budget. What it look like when
we going to get the budget and just
[59:02] listen to
uh what you're stating, you know, a lot
[59:06] of times because of money that are in,
they're contracted in, so it's not
[59:10] feasible, but at this point in time, do
you feel that we as you mentioned, we're
[59:13] right where we need to be?
Uh okay. And then secondly, is there a
[59:17] way that we can make sure that we have
reports as the audience or residents are
[59:22] stating, so they'll know where we're at.
I mentioned before, I think when we're
[59:26] dealing with different items in their
comment, I think visually people will
[59:30] understand it better. I think so if we I
know that that's the heart and people
[59:34] have to understand we've gone through a
lot of transition and a lot of different
[59:37] accounting people handling and so trying
to get back on track. As it was stated,
[59:41] some of our auditing is off or not
auditing but as far as tracking finances
[59:46] it's not accurate and it's not up to
date. So hopefully we can do that. And I
[59:50] would definitely like to suggest that we
do a class, have a class with you sports
[59:54] citizens that we better understand what
does government financing look like.
[59:59] It's not your personal finance, it's not
your corporate finance, it is a
[1:00:03] different monster all together when you
look at compliances, regulations,
[1:00:08] timing, um ordinances, it all plays into
that. So I think that if we can get
[1:00:13] scheduled, I'd love to get that on a
book, I'll spearhead it
[1:00:17] and get that so you can come in and
really help us clearly understand. So
[1:00:20] when we have these questions, we all
better understand all of us in our
[1:00:24] financial rules, we don't really
understand it but I think you do a good
[1:00:27] job of clearing it up, making it
to the point we can understand. So I
[1:00:31] will definitely push for that and get
that on the book and schedule that for
[1:00:35] us all have an opportunity to learn
more.
[1:00:37] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:00:38] » And finance will be bringing this to
mayor and council monthly.
[1:00:43] » Oh perfect. Good. Great, great, great.
Thank you so much.
[1:00:46] » What's good?
>> Uh just since citizen mentioned public
[1:00:50] comments,
is there can we do get a really quick
[1:00:54] brief update on where we're at with the
audit and like what what stage we're in?
[1:01:00] » Sure. So finance has put together an RFP
for auditors. It is on the Georgia
[1:01:06] procurement site and once we get the
bids back and are able to come to
[1:01:13] council with a recommendation, we will
do so. In the meantime, we have asked
[1:01:17] Department of Accounts and Audits if we
are eligible for an extension in which
[1:01:22] we are
um
[1:01:24] » Yeah, I just wanted to say
the reason why we're behind schedule on
[1:01:28] the audit process is we had auditors and
then we realized that they had a
[1:01:31] conflict of interest with one of the
litigation cases that's currently going
[1:01:35] on. They were serving as auditors to
someone who was suing the city. So, we
[1:01:39] had to ask for them to step down and so
we had to start the process over. So, I
[1:01:43] just wanted to make it clear for the
record why we are behind schedule.
[1:01:47] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:01:48] » Thank you.
>> Thank you and I appreciate
[1:01:50] » that because finance has been working
very hard to put that stuff together.
[1:01:53] So, we are not behind on getting the
2025 stuff together for them.
[1:01:57] » Yeah, I
I I know I just asked you that before
[1:01:59] the meeting and that when that question
came up I felt it be important to let
[1:02:03] everybody know so I appreciate that.
Thank you.
[1:02:06] » The only comment I would have is if you
could make a uh
[1:02:10] um one slide that shows the different
funds that we have that several of the
[1:02:18] citizens wanted to know. For example,
the small
[1:02:22] the small cities funds that
and you know all the funds that we have.
[1:02:27] That we could say, "Hey, this is how
much is spent This is how much we had.
[1:02:31] This is how much is spent and this is
the dates."
[1:02:34] I think that would help a lot of people
that
[1:02:39] » Okay. Yes. Thank you. Thank you.
>> What's four?
[1:02:42] » Probably the the additional part of that
they mentioned SPLOST also. So, making
[1:02:46] sure maybe that we put SPLOST in there.
It'll help the transparency. I need to
[1:02:51] say uh publicly that you're doing a
great job. I know you've had to pick up
[1:02:55] the ball from from
you know, the instability in the past
[1:03:00] and the changeover of health and so just
stay steadfast. So, thank you for your
[1:03:04] work, Michelle.
>> Well, thank you. I have a great team.
[1:03:09] » What's five?
[1:03:12] » So far we've identified
public events
[1:03:17] and cut back where as possible.
expenses versus
[1:03:22] » What other measures are we taking to
look at expenses? What department heads
[1:03:26] cut expenses?
[1:03:30] » I don't
Yeah.
[1:03:32] » There will be more information on that.
>> Is this is this in regards to the
[1:03:35] military cuz if this is in regards to
the budget.
[1:03:44] » I mean we were just talking.
>> Yeah. Is there a question in regards to
[1:03:48] this current budget or is this more
geared towards the military discussion?
[1:03:55] » Both sports and fun.
[1:04:02] » Okay. Yes, sir.
To keep us on track, this is more for a
[1:04:07] budget review of the kind of
year-to-date from I guess January to
[1:04:11] April, correct?
>> Correct.
[1:04:12] » Yeah. So, any questions regarding
the report?
[1:04:31] Um
The one thing I just want to get clarity
[1:04:34] for. So, the benchmarks
represent kind of
[1:04:39] a matter of speaking if we're on track
or not budget. And this is more of a
[1:04:42] transparency thing or we're not on track
in our budget. And it would help our
[1:04:46] council to be able to understand like,
"Hey guys, we need to slow down, pull
[1:04:50] back." Or, you know, where we're where
not spending enough money. Let me not
[1:04:54] say not spending enough money not in the
military. But
[1:04:57] but but but it gives us an idea of kind
of where we are in the middle of the
[1:05:01] race. Correct? So, these are really good
things for us to be able to look at to
[1:05:05] gauge, you know, for instance, if we're
halfway through the year and we're 20%
[1:05:09] up in a in a one line item, then we have
to start of looking at that. And is
[1:05:13] finance looking at that? Or hey, what's
happening when you see those benchmarks
[1:05:17] over that percentage?
>> So, we are looking at the 33.33%
[1:05:22] which signifies the four months that is
in this report. So, if we were looking
[1:05:27] at a straight projection, which there
are some things that we can look at a
[1:05:30] straight projection, but there's also
other expenses as well as other revenues
[1:05:33] that hit seasonally and at different
times of the year. So, while we do take
[1:05:38] that into account when we look at
general fund in its totality, it is well
[1:05:42] with it. It's within that 33.33%.
I think it's at 33.4%.
[1:05:47] Um so, just a little bit above, just a
hair above, but we are monitoring at the
[1:05:51] departmental level and having those
conversations with department heads.
[1:05:55] » And then the the next question I have as
far as reporting, like what what has
[1:05:59] been the best practice that other cities
are using to keep the public engaged on
[1:06:03] budget? Are they posting it to their
website? Or like what
[1:06:07] what does that look like so we can make
sure, you know, as we try to move
[1:06:10] forward in keeping our transparency,
we're kind of at the best practice for
[1:06:16] » Um I think it would be a good idea to
put this financial analysis, which will
[1:06:19] be a monthly, on our website. And I
believe that there is space for to do
[1:06:24] so.
>> Right. Okay. Got it.
[1:06:28] Okay.
I think that's all. Thank you.
[1:06:30] » Thank you.
[1:06:34] » All right. That was the April 2020 20
April 2026 financials presentation.
[1:06:41] We'll now move forward to council policy
discussion topics, which there are none.
[1:06:46] Uh unfinished business, there is no
unfinished business. We'll now um
[1:06:50] at new business, and that is the
emergency repair HVAC project GEFA
[1:06:57] funding for the train depot.
[1:07:02] » Good evening, Mayor and Council.
Uh this matter began uh as you know
[1:07:08] better than anyone city has
undertaken significant steps towards
[1:07:13] utilizing the depot for
and so
[1:07:16] museum
many other actions and we have a
[1:07:20] significant event beginning this Friday.
It's very important this city. It just
[1:07:24] so happens that last Thursday as we were
taking
[1:07:28] preparation steps towards continuing to
get the depot ready.
[1:07:32] I'm going in and I instantly noticed
thermostat up in the mid-80s.
[1:07:37] HVAC systems completely out. I checked
the HVAC closet.
[1:07:41] Water in it.
So, we know we've got a significant
[1:07:44] problem. I don't want mold or
any other issues to develop. I instantly
[1:07:49] called um
the contractor that we use for this
[1:07:53] building
utilizing the same grant funds that you
[1:07:56] have titled on your paper now.
The contractor
[1:08:00] was able when I explained the
significance to them and the necessity
[1:08:04] that that we have, the contractor was
able to get out there the next morning
[1:08:08] uh
to evaluate our system.
[1:08:12] In this case, I was aware that we have
available grant funds that we haven't
[1:08:16] utilized yet. We have about 26,000
that we were waiting for which facility
[1:08:21] we may need to apply them before going
to.
[1:08:24] Um so, that was in the back of my mind
but I don't have a diagnosis at this
[1:08:28] point. I'm still waiting on this
contractor. He presents my first request
[1:08:33] is what is it going to take to repair
this facility, get it ready for
[1:08:37] this coming week because I know just as
we expected, the first deliveries for
[1:08:42] items for the historic depot began
today.
[1:08:45] And the first thing they noticed was it
is hot in here. Yes, it is.
[1:08:49] But we're working on it.
So,
[1:08:52] the quote that came in for repairs alone
was $5,100.
[1:08:56] Uh and at that point, he also told me
that there's no way those repairs are
[1:09:00] going to happen because I have to get it
parts for a 2008 unit.
[1:09:06] Uh that's this is significant age and I
will not get your repairs done by the
[1:09:10] date anticipated.
Uh he he proposed also that you go with
[1:09:15] a new unit.
Like you don't need to take use
[1:09:20] $5,100
and put it in a repair that he can't
[1:09:23] guarantee is even going to get you
another year.
[1:09:26] And and I also was aware these grant
funds, because these grant funds that we
[1:09:30] titled in their report are 100%
reimbursable.
[1:09:34] And we all know grant money comes from
taxpayers and we're taxpayers.
[1:09:38] So, the first thing we wanted to look at
was, will these apply if we were to
[1:09:42] acquire a new unit and then we don't
invest in $5,100
[1:09:47] in a repair that is zero reimbursable.
$5,100 would come all of our money.
[1:09:54] So,
uh as late as
[1:09:57] today was on the phone with GEFA,
following up with everything the
[1:10:00] contractor got me in documentation and
was able to verify that due to the
[1:10:05] circumstances and due to the fact that
we did use the same contractor before
[1:10:09] that was it was quoted, they will
support us and can submit this project
[1:10:15] for grant funds that would be reha- 100%
reimbursable.
[1:10:19] Uh they understand our situation and
they concur.
[1:10:22] Um
and this way we do not have $5,100 out
[1:10:26] of our own general budget and get
nothing in return for it, basically.
[1:10:30] We were able to get a
5-ton for 5-ton unit.
[1:10:35] Uh the cost on this quote is $17,000.
112 dollars.
[1:10:41] It would be with Legacy Mechanical.
And again, it would be uh utilizing
[1:10:46] funding through the GEFA, the state GEFA
organization of the Energy Efficiency
[1:10:50] and Conservation Block Grant.
Uh
[1:10:54] And
this will if if this is approved by
[1:10:57] council, uh we would initially pay for
this out of capital outlay buildings
[1:11:03] and then reimburse the same funding.
And that would in fact be our
[1:11:08] recommendation.
Staff's recommendation comes to
[1:11:12] recommend the approval of the purchase
of this HVAC system
[1:11:16] from Legacy Mechanical based upon the
emergent
[1:11:19] totality of circumstances in the amount
of $17,112.
[1:11:24] And then the submission of the full
expenditure to GEDA for grant fund
[1:11:28] utilization through this block grant
program.
[1:11:32] Uh this
It's unfortunate, but they can commit to
[1:11:37] us that they will get this installed
Thursday all day long. And by Friday
[1:11:41] we'll be able to open this facility.
It'll be cool in there again. And we'll
[1:11:45] have no concern over people falling out
in the heat
[1:11:48] in our brand new open facility. We do
not want any
[1:11:52] any issues to happen.
That's the recommendation.
[1:11:59] » We'll open it up for questions starting
on post point.
[1:12:03] » Do we have any idea in terms of time
wise for reimbursement? Do we have just
[1:12:07] kind of cuz I know that'll be the
question that will be asked.
[1:12:10] » As soon as we gather what they require.
They have verified it based upon review
[1:12:14] of our policy and again the the fact
that this other person has already
[1:12:19] installed another unit. We just have to
get them the required documentation and
[1:12:23] they they can get that process That's it
would be this budget year.
[1:12:26] It has to be in by the deadline of
September 30th of this year. All grant
[1:12:31] funds for this program have to be
submitted by September 30th. We'll be
[1:12:35] well before that.
>> Okay. Great. That's the good
[1:12:38] and we'll get it back. That's the most
important
[1:12:40] » The good news is
not related to this boat. Sorry to
[1:12:44] interrupt.
They've opened up more funds and we're
[1:12:47] going to apply for 20,000 more.
And we're we're able to get
[1:12:51] » And that's being smart.
>> Already part of my budget.
[1:12:56] » And and that's good news because I mean,
when we can look at things like that to
[1:13:00] help offset costs.
>> Right.
[1:13:02] » And and people, be mindful when we have
a grant writer. It was posed before,
[1:13:07] prior to this council. What can a grant
writer do? You have to be mindful that
[1:13:11] what if we were asked, if that grant
writer, if a budget is limited, that
[1:13:16] grant writer can only look for a certain
amount of grants.
[1:13:19] » That's what they
>> That's scope of work. Because when you
[1:13:21] go for grant, it's research, it's time.
And so, if you want to go for the big
[1:13:25] one, your budget has to be big in order
to allow you to invest in the time and
[1:13:30] resource to go for million-dollar grants
and five-million-dollar grants. It's
[1:13:34] cost money in order to get those grants
as well. So, I want to make sure people
[1:13:38] know that because that was posed before,
that was put before us.
[1:13:44] » Uh the don't
you kind of answered it a little bit,
[1:13:47] but I but I was I was going to say this
this is the area. You kind of sound like
[1:13:51] you were looking at different areas that
would would need these funds, and you're
[1:13:54] saying that this is one that has the
most immediate need, right?
[1:13:58] » Well, considering the fact, you know, we
were considering GMC. If we're going to
[1:14:01] rejuvenate GMC, who's staffed there?
Is that as long as that's being
[1:14:05] considered, we're looking at holding
these funds for fixing two AC units that
[1:14:09] are down there?
But those units, the two of them, cost
[1:14:12] more than we had left in the budget.
So, we're still going to have to say,
[1:14:16] "Okay, now what do we do?"
>> That's what you're applying for probably
[1:14:19] for the future, hopefully.
>> This starts the next week.
[1:14:21] » All right. Yeah.
>> Within the week, we've got This is
[1:14:23] emergency to us.
We need to move on it. Okay.
[1:14:26] We'll make that another decision down
the road, and we'll get the 20,000 more.
[1:14:30] » Cool. Awesome. Thank you.
>> Mr. Elton, will this HVAC system service
[1:14:36] both sides or just one side?
>> Just that one side, just like the
[1:14:40] current system.
>> So, when we want to
[1:14:43] open the other side for anything, you'll
have to have the same size piece of
[1:14:47] equipment, most likely.
>> Yes.
[1:14:49] » Okay.
Any comment?
[1:14:51] » We hope they do not have a draft system
like this because this one this
[1:14:54] particular one will not be here.
>> Okay.
[1:14:57] And you mentioned to
our finance director that
[1:15:02] they can
pay for it now and then the money will
[1:15:05] come back.
>> Correct.
[1:15:06] » I mean there's no
we got in trouble one time about moving
[1:15:10] money around. I just want to make sure
that
[1:15:13] we are all in agreement that that
Okay.
[1:15:17] » Yes, I've conferred with the city
manager as well as finance director and
[1:15:20] GFO. I wanted to make sure we took no
step forward without making sure that
[1:15:25] the state wasn't going to throw a red
flag and put us in for that.
[1:15:29] All of that could get time back.
>> Thank you.
[1:15:34] » I
I don't have any questions, but it sure
[1:15:36] is nice to work smarter and not harder.
>> There's no doubt and that's the
[1:15:41] particular question. Part of it is
working smarter.
[1:15:44] There are dates on all of this part of
this old system that were in the
[1:15:46] mid-90s.
From when they would service the old
[1:15:49] portions of it.
The newer unit is old.
[1:15:53] So that there are service dates on part
of the system back in the mid-90s.
[1:15:57] » Oh, wow.
>> Yeah. And we're definitely going to be
[1:15:59] able to show energy efficiency
improvement.
[1:16:02] » Great. Great. It's great move. Thank
you. Thank you. That's all I have.
[1:16:06] » Vote five.
[1:16:09] » Did you break down the 17,000?
[1:16:14] » Yes, sir.
There is a a quote that they provided
[1:16:17] where of course they will remove and
dispose of the existing system and all
[1:16:21] the the freon whatever freon's left in
the unit.
[1:16:25] And then they provide and install a new
Trane system.
[1:16:29] Not not Trane as in Trane but Trane
brand system. And it is a split system
[1:16:35] as we currently have and it's a good
quality one. I knew there is we want to
[1:16:39] make sure we put something good quality
in the depot. We anticipate that the
[1:16:43] post going to be there for many more
years just as it has been already.
[1:16:47] It's going to require a new thermostat
because of new system and the
[1:16:50] technology.
Uh any and all duct work that needs
[1:16:53] adjusting, some of the dates that we
found on some of that service
[1:16:58] from the mid-90s relates to some duct
work. So, some of the you know, system
[1:17:01] on the return side, a small amount will
need replacing but very little.
[1:17:06] But anything else they find while they
do their inspection just in case there's
[1:17:09] any where else in that system where
water is
[1:17:12] left in where they need to look at it
but they'll look at all that.
[1:17:16] And then all the other items
reused electrical and modified as
[1:17:21] necessary, condenser drain lines,
natural natural gas lines if necessary.
[1:17:26] Uh any and all other materials started
test up, 1-year warranty, 5-year
[1:17:31] compressor warranty.
Full clean up and get it done within one
[1:17:35] day.
[1:17:38] » I think
[1:17:41] Poll six.
>> Yes.
[1:17:44] » Thank you.
All right.
[1:17:46] Thank you, Mr. Hilton.
>> So, I would move to approve
[1:17:51] the GEFA
A funding for the HVAC system for the
[1:17:57] historic Stone Mountain Depot at a cost
of $17,112.
[1:18:04] » A second.
>> All right, there's a motion and second.
[1:18:07] Um any further discussion?
We'll call for the votes starting with
[1:18:11] poll one.
>> Denise Booth poll one, yes.
[1:18:13] » Mark Mariano poll two, yes.
>> Ryan Smith poll three, yes.
[1:18:17] » Connie yes, poll four, yes.
[1:18:22] » Nancy
poll six, yes.
[1:18:24] » Okay, that's a unanimous vote for the
emergency repair of the HVAC system at
[1:18:28] the train depot, the GEFA
funding will be allotted for this
[1:18:34] project. Thank you.
All right, we'll move forward to new
[1:18:38] ordinances and resolutions. We have
ordinance 2026-11
[1:18:42] for 5406 East Mountain Street sign
variance.
[1:18:47] » Good evening, Mayor and Council. This is
the second of this variance ordinance. I
[1:18:52] would like to go over the staff report.
Specifically, the standards for
[1:18:58] approving a variance.
First, there are extraordinary and
[1:19:02] exceptional conditions pertaining to the
particular property in question because
[1:19:06] of its size, shape, and topography. That
does not apply here.
[1:19:11] The application of the zoning ordinance
to the particular piece of property
[1:19:14] would create unnecessary hardship. The
signage has already been erected. It was
[1:19:19] done without permission. They are asking
for forgiveness.
[1:19:24] Such conditions are not the result of
any action of the property owner. Again,
[1:19:28] the property owner installed the signs
without permission.
[1:19:32] The relief if granted would not cause
substantial detriment to the public
[1:19:36] good, nor impair the purposes or intent
of the zoning ordinance.
[1:19:40] So, the code permits two signs.
They want four.
[1:19:45] Staff recommendation was to approve the
variance.
[1:19:49] The Planning Commission
They have not approved the minutes, but
[1:19:53] it's my understanding that the Planning
Commission approved three of the signs.
[1:19:57] Happy to take any questions that you may
have.
[1:20:00] » All right, we'll open up for questions.
I'm going to pose one.
[1:20:08] » I know So, the three signs that the
Planning Commission approved, currently
[1:20:11] they are They wanted to add another one
what they would erect.
[1:20:15] » Yes.
>> That's it.
[1:20:16] » Yes. So, if you look at this at this
picture, the Planning Commission
[1:20:20] approved sign one, which is on the front
side of the building. That's a wall sign
[1:20:24] on the building itself.
The Planning Commission approved sign
[1:20:27] three, which is a ground sign, as well
as sign four, which is a which is a
[1:20:31] ground sign. the wall sign, which is
sign number two, facing Fourth Street,
[1:20:35] which is the one that was denied by the
bank.
[1:20:38] Okay, that's all I wanted to know. Thank
you.
[1:20:43] » I I don't have any questions. Thank you.
>> I just wanted to know if there's four
[1:20:48] signs now,
um
[1:20:50] is the applicant required to choose
which ones they want to leave before we
[1:20:54] vote?
>> So, the the motion would need to specify
[1:20:59] which signs the council is approving, if
any.
[1:21:03] They're entitled to two.
Um and and
[1:21:07] they've got four. I think they've
actually taken one down, so I actually
[1:21:10] think they only have three.
Um but they're only entitled to two. If
[1:21:15] if this variance is denied, then they
will have to pick which two, but those
[1:21:19] signs are still going to have to be
permitted.
[1:21:21] Um so.
[1:21:24] » Thank you.
>> Okay.
[1:21:26] » Close four.
>> And close four.
[1:21:30] » Yeah, I know that I know that they've
got three signs up right now.
[1:21:33] Um
so we're just going to have to decide
[1:21:36] whether or not we're going to
vote for allowing the third one and
[1:21:40] fourth one or not.
>> Correct. Yes, because under those under
[1:21:43] those conditions that our zoning
ordinance lays out for variances.
[1:21:50] » Close five.
[1:21:53] » The
front wall sign
[1:21:56] is currently 16 inches high and 16
inches deep long,
[1:22:01] which is
a great deal bigger than what we allow.
[1:22:06] » Yes, I agree.
>> Make sure we put that.
[1:22:08] Means the recommendations for the
variance are
[1:22:12] 10 inches high and 96 inches.
>> Yes, sir. If if any signage is approved
[1:22:18] by council, unless you specifically
allow a larger sign, uh it would have to
[1:22:23] be a sign that would otherwise be
permitted under our sign ordinance.
[1:22:29] Okay.
[1:22:37] » I think we have this now. There's three
signs up.
[1:22:40] » Currently, yes, ma'am.
>> They had four. They wanted four signs.
[1:22:43] They wanted it on They wanted on the
building itself
[1:22:48] facing Bull Street.
That was denied.
[1:22:52] » Correct.
>> So,
[1:22:55] » they're only entitled to two under our
sign ordinance. What they're asking for
[1:22:59] is four.
On the ground currently, what's actually
[1:23:02] currently existing is three.
>> Okay.
[1:23:04] » There's two signs. They're still not in
compliance.
[1:23:07] » They have three.
The city only allowed two.
[1:23:10] » Correct.
>> And now they want four. They want an
[1:23:13] additional sign.
>> Yes, sir.
[1:23:14] » Okay.
[1:23:17] » Yes.
[1:23:19] » Um
a few comments on this.
[1:23:22] Um
Just council just as as you all consider
[1:23:27] what decision you're making, consider,
you know, the precedent that we will set
[1:23:32] as we make these decisions, and consider
we ask code enforcement to do their job
[1:23:37] and the precedent we set for our code
enforcement as we look at following our
[1:23:42] ordinances. Um
>> So, I will, Mayor, if I may comment on
[1:23:45] that. They were cited, and we handled
their code case at the May code
[1:23:51] calendar, and they have paid their fine.
>> Correct. Correct. But, where I'm going
[1:23:55] is is if
our code enforcement brings this up, and
[1:23:59] we just start allowing variances for
anything, it kind of undermines the
[1:24:05] system, even though people pay their
fines. People then just
[1:24:09] can't continue to just violate and then
ask us for a variance, and, you know,
[1:24:14] you know, you
council can risk setting a a bad
[1:24:18] precedent. Um
So, um that's that's my only comment. Um
[1:24:24] I I think, you know, two signs are fine
in my opinion, but that's just my
[1:24:28] opinion.
All right.
[1:24:32] So, if we have questions, is there a
motion?
[1:24:39] Well, oh, okay. We need another round of
discussion, so we'll have another round
[1:24:43] of discussion starting with post one.
>> Okay.
[1:24:46] If the decision as a council decides to
just stick with the two eliminate
[1:24:52] sticking in an agreement with the thing
I stated,
[1:24:55] would they then have to decide which two
that they want to keep?
[1:25:00] » Correct. And and if the because none of
them are It's my understanding that none
[1:25:04] of them have been permitted yet, so they
can choose to apply for the two that
[1:25:08] they're going to
Make sense. Thank you.
[1:25:12] » Post two.
>> I think variances in some conditions are
[1:25:16] valid, especially considering the fact
that some of our ordinances are outdated
[1:25:20] um or, you know,
maybe they need to be reformed in some
[1:25:24] way or another, but I think in this case
um
[1:25:28] I don't see the utility of a third or a
fourth sign. There's two faces to this
[1:25:32] building that is viewed by the street.
Uh
[1:25:36] it's I I um
I I was thinking about it or, you know,
[1:25:41] since the last time we did the reading
and I don't I just I I can't think of
[1:25:46] where the code would be wrong in not
allowing this or um
[1:25:51] or anything like that. So, uh me
personally, I'm I'm not in favor of
[1:25:54] approving
this uh
[1:25:57] in these third and fourth signs.
Thank you.
[1:26:01] » Post three.
>> I have no further comments at this time.
[1:26:04] Thank you.
>> Post four.
[1:26:06] » The only thing I want to add to addition
to about the third sign, it's in the
[1:26:10] parking lot. And so, sometimes I think
when you have a land lot that's not on
[1:26:15] the side of the building, but the back
of your building it identifies,
[1:26:19] especially when parking is such a a
sensitive issue in the city even with
[1:26:23] the businesses. That that would be one
thing I think we might want to consider
[1:26:28] on the third sign because it really
identifies their parking lot. Uh cuz if
[1:26:32] not, it's street parking and there's no
street parking on Fourth Street really
[1:26:35] that's safe. Um but I agree that I
wouldn't uh I would have I would be
[1:26:40] against the third sign. But I think I
just wanted to add it about the third
[1:26:44] sign cuz it really is
[1:26:48] » Plus five.
>> Plus five.
[1:27:01] » So they
The No, there's two in front, one up on
[1:27:06] the building and one that's posted in
the off. The one that was posted in the
[1:27:12] yard,
I believe they did it first
[1:27:16] without getting a permit.
>> They got all of them without a permit.
[1:27:21] » They got it.
>> Oh.
[1:27:24] Okay.
So they need to make a decision if they
[1:27:30] want which two signs they want to keep
or this council's got to make a decision
[1:27:35] to let them
have their three signs up front.
[1:27:39] » Yes, got you. And I would ask that if
you are going to allow any kind of a
[1:27:43] variance that the motion be any sign
that is allowed be permitted and um
[1:27:49] unless you want to do a specific size
sign that it otherwise meets the sign
[1:27:54] ordinances size requirements.
[1:28:00] » There's a motion on the floor.
So I would move to deny ordinance
[1:28:07] 2026-11
for 5406
[1:28:10] East Mount Street sign variance.
>> I second.
[1:28:15] » We have a motion and a second. Any
further discussion?
[1:28:19] We'll call for the vote.
>> Okay.
[1:28:21] Um
in terms of the the I think it's a valid
[1:28:25] question about parking indications. Is
is that a Can that be something
[1:28:28] different than than like a sign that
says the the funeral home or You know
[1:28:32] what I mean? There's usually
smaller signs that that that are that
[1:28:37] say, you know, private.
Right. I'm I'm just want to make sure
[1:28:41] that that can still be done. Make it
still indicate that they have parking
[1:28:45] without having to create a very large
sign. This is all.
[1:28:49] » Sure. Now, I think that would count as
one of their signs, though.
[1:28:52] » Oh, would it?
>> I I believe so. I don't know if the sign
[1:28:55] ordinance is inside or out, but I I do
believe that would count as one of their
[1:28:58] signs. If there's a no parking or
parking only for our business, that
[1:29:02] counts as one of the signs.
>> Okay.
[1:29:05] All right.
That's all. Thank you.
[1:29:07] » Okay.
We had a motion and a second. Uh we had
[1:29:11] a little discussion. We're now calling
for the vote, starting with post one.
[1:29:14] » This is post one, yes.
>> Mark Reynolds, post two, yes.
[1:29:19] » Brian Smith, post three, yes.
[1:29:29] » Kay Núñez, post four, yes.
[1:29:34] » Elaine Vaughn, post six, yes.
>> Okay, that's a unanimous uh vote to deny
[1:29:40] ordinance 2026-11
for 5406 East Mount Street sign
[1:29:45] variance. All right. We'll move forward
in our agenda to ordinance 2026-12,
[1:29:51] purchasing.
[1:29:57] » This is the second read of ordinance
2026-12.
[1:30:02] This is our attempt to try and modernize
our purchasing ordinance in order to be
[1:30:07] able to make our operations and city
services run much more smoothly and
[1:30:13] efficiently.
I am happy to take any questions if you
[1:30:17] have anything specifically about what
was changed, what we presented to you as
[1:30:21] the clean copy, but I do have a redline
version if you've got a specific
[1:30:25] question about what was changed
or why something was changed.
[1:30:31] » We'll open up for questions starting
with pulse one.
[1:30:33] » I don't have any questions.
>> I don't have any questions, but I do
[1:30:38] think it's needed
just just based on the fact that I know
[1:30:41] the previous city managers weren't even
able to, you know, order a new toilet to
[1:30:45] to to fix broken toilets. I mean, I
remember that specific example and
[1:30:50] that's this is part of the issue of of
our um
[1:30:53] uh
not lack of service, but our extended
[1:30:57] timelines on on services coming forward
for things that are that are necessities
[1:31:01] and I think that it's it's it's
important. Thank you.
[1:31:04] » Pulse three.
>> So, my only questions, Attorney Couch,
[1:31:08] is you said that um
I assume that the only thing that
[1:31:13] changed was the
um amount that they could purchase.
[1:31:17] » No, sir. No, sir. I rewrote it because I
was constantly getting questions from
[1:31:22] city management and department heads,
can we do this? Can we do that? Is it
[1:31:25] okay if we do this? We have to go to
mayor and council for this? Is this part
[1:31:28] of professional services? They
So, in order to try and save the city
[1:31:31] money on legal expenses, I took the
liberty of trying to make this much
[1:31:35] clearer so that I will have less
questions. So, no, it's not just the
[1:31:39] amount, it's an overall.
>> Okay.
[1:31:45] That everything?
>> That's all. Pulse three. Pulse four.
[1:31:49] » Um no, I I I think that it aligned a lot
with the original ordinances except it
[1:31:54] cleaned it up a lot from what I read
when I looked at the current ordinance.
[1:31:58] It did give them a a bit more uh
ability to make decisions without
[1:32:03] delaying
the snail pace of usually how the
[1:32:07] government works is solving problems.
So, no, I don't have any questions.
[1:32:12] » Okay. Post five?
[1:32:16] » No questions.
>> Post six?
[1:32:20] » Okay.
Um this is our second read of the
[1:32:23] ordinance 2026-12
purchasing. So, is there a motion?
[1:32:28] » I move to adopt ordinance 2026-12
purchasing.
[1:32:33] » I second.
>> All right, there's a motion and a
[1:32:37] second. Any further discussion?
All right, we'll call for the votes and
[1:32:40] I'll go through post one.
>> Data backs, post one, yes.
[1:32:43] » Mark Ryan is post two, yes.
>> Ryan post three, yes.
[1:32:47] » Yes, post
>> Yes.
[1:32:51] » Post five?
[1:32:54] » United Department, post six, yes.
>> That is a unanimous vote to approve
[1:33:00] ordinance 2026-12
purchasing.
[1:33:17] What is up here?
Put your names.
[1:33:23] All right.
Okay. All right, let's stay focused. All
[1:33:26] right, we're moving forward to ordinance
2026-13
[1:33:30] millage rate adoption.
[1:33:37] All right, is the staff ready?
[1:33:57] » Also,
at the beginning of tonight's meeting,
[1:34:01] we went over the different scenarios
about the military and the different
[1:34:06] projections
um for the different military rates,
[1:34:10] what the collection will be at 100%,
cuts
[1:34:15] that we need to consider within the
budget for the different rates.
[1:34:19] The decision before you ultimately comes
down to balancing the tax paying impact
[1:34:24] with the city's responsibility to
maintain service levels and also meet
[1:34:28] operational demands.
The rollback rate and lower millage
[1:34:32] scenarios create significant budget gaps
that will require difficult financial
[1:34:37] decisions.
As the millage rate increases, the
[1:34:40] city's ability to sustain public safety
operations, employee retention efforts,
[1:34:45] infrastructure maintenance, technology
investment, and community services
[1:34:49] improves substantially.
Based on the preliminary digest and the
[1:34:54] projected expenditure
expenditures,
[1:34:58] the proposed scenarios between 17.5 and
16.75
[1:35:03] mills appear to provide the strongest
financial stability while minimizing the
[1:35:08] reliance on services or future budget
reductions.
[1:35:11] As respectfully presented, this office
for your consideration is staff ready to
[1:35:15] answer any questions that you may have
tonight.
[1:35:19] We did another discussion within um our
departments. We already had two budget
[1:35:26] project two military rates in three
special called meetings
[1:35:30] before uh the public hearing
for the military
[1:35:35] and then not only from mayor and
council, but we had an opportunity to
[1:35:39] hear from the community and the public
their feedback.
[1:35:43] So, city staff had another gathering for
um us to consider exactly where
[1:35:49] the cuts or the reduction of the budget
will be made
[1:35:53] and tonight I have the finance director
she'll go over very briefly
[1:35:59] before we make your final consideration
and final discussion
[1:36:03] on the millage rate.
We would like to propose to cancel kind
[1:36:07] of new scenario for proposed reduction
in the budget.
[1:36:10] Ms. Yuron
[1:36:16] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
So, staff's original recommendation was
[1:36:20] a millage rate of 17.5 mills.
However, after listening to the mayor,
[1:36:25] council, and the citizens throughout the
process, staff revisited the budget and
[1:36:30] identified additional opportunities to
reduce expenditures while maintaining
[1:36:34] current service levels.
I would like to thank the mayor and
[1:36:38] council for scheduling two additional
millage rate meetings to allow for
[1:36:43] further review, discussion, and
evaluation of available options and
[1:36:47] scenarios.
Since the initial recommendation, the
[1:36:50] city manager proposed reducing four
approved positions to three positions,
[1:36:56] which was approved by mayor and council
at the previous meeting. This action
[1:37:00] resulted in a reduction of approximately
$145,000
[1:37:04] in personal services and benefits along
with approximately $27,653
[1:37:11] being identified as a reduction in court
services. That will generate
[1:37:16] approximately $172,000
in budgetary savings.
[1:37:20] Based on these adjustments and a
projected property tax collection of 93%
[1:37:25] staff has concluded a millage rate of
16.75
[1:37:30] mills is sustainable.
At this rate, the estimated budget
[1:37:34] shortfall is approximately $227,632.
[1:37:39] Staff's analysis indicates that the city
can maintain its current level of
[1:37:44] services at 16.75 mills
with the budget reductions already
[1:37:49] implemented, and with the consensus
direction provided by the majority of
[1:37:53] mayor and council to identify
approximately $56,000
[1:37:58] in additional savings within special
events. Thereby reducing the general
[1:38:03] fund contribution to the visitor center
by that amount, bringing us to that
[1:38:08] total deficit by
uh that that comes with the 16.75
[1:38:13] mills. It is also important to note that
the proposed millage rate of 16.75
[1:38:19] mills represents an increase of less
than 1 mill over the current rate of
[1:38:24] 15.827
mills. Specifically, the increase is
[1:38:29] approximately 5.83%
while still providing the revenue
[1:38:33] necessary to support city operations and
services.
[1:38:38] While any tax increase deserves careful
consideration, staff has concluded that
[1:38:42] a millage rate of 16.75 mills strikes an
appropriate between fiscal
[1:38:47] responsibility
and maintaining the level of service our
[1:38:51] residents expect and deserve.
Therefore, based on the revisions made
[1:38:55] to the budget and the direction received
from the mayor and council, staff
[1:38:58] recommends a millage rate of 16.75 mills
for consideration this evening.
[1:39:04] Again, this recommendation reflects
staff's effort to balance the concerns
[1:39:08] expressed by mayor and council, the
public's desire to minimize the tax
[1:39:12] impact, and the city's responsibility to
maintain essential services.
[1:39:19] Thank you, ma'am.
>> Thank you, Mr. Robin.
[1:39:23] At this point, mayor and council, you do
hear from me as the city manager, the
[1:39:26] director of operations, and also our
finance director. What are the potential
[1:39:31] areas, line items that we can consider
these cuts or reduction of the budget.
[1:39:37] So,
I would like to hear from you discussion
[1:39:40] about the millage rate, and we're ready
to answer any questions that you might
[1:39:43] have.
>> Okay, we're opening up for questions
[1:39:46] starting with post post one.
>> First of all, thank you for listening to
[1:39:51] the mayor, the council, and especially
the residents. I'm a resident, so I We
[1:39:54] all get it. We all are residents here.
Um and looking at that, and then we look
[1:39:59] at
times that we're living, we understand
[1:40:01] crisis and all that, the wars and
various things. And we also understand
[1:40:05] the increase of gas and food and so many
different things. But also we all
[1:40:09] understand the importance of having a
city that has a staff that is
[1:40:13] professional, that cares about the city,
that's kept down the crime in the city.
[1:40:18] Um and it it it's been a tour because I
don't think people take into
[1:40:22] consideration the There've been
ridicule, there've been post things
[1:40:26] about us, they've just said some really
horrible things. But as I sit back, I
[1:40:31] don't think I've ever run a city before.
I don't know how to run a city. I know
[1:40:36] to speak for the residents and be a
resident and because it's all about
[1:40:40] everybody. But I don't anybody here has
run a city before. So there's some
[1:40:44] things that we know financially, there's
some people that have expert in finance,
[1:40:48] some people know expert in corporate
arenas and various things. To run a city
[1:40:53] with all the functions of a city is
massive.
[1:40:56] And we've had a horrific situation in
the city, legal issues and various
[1:41:01] things that have happened, and the city
has been off track.
[1:41:05] And we're finally beginning to get on
track, and it does not take overnight.
[1:41:10] We've got to correct the wrongs, to
correct the injustices, to correct the
[1:41:13] things that were people in positions
that did not know what they were doing.
[1:41:17] And at least we can say as a council, we
are working together. We're not cutting
[1:41:21] each other down. We're not disrespecting
each other. We do genuinely care.
[1:41:27] And I took up many nights worrying,
praying, and praying, "How do I just
[1:41:30] make the right decision?"
I am concerned about everybody in this
[1:41:35] city. I'm not in it for me. I'm in it
for everybody that's in this city that
[1:41:39] affects them. And if we can make a
decision that is somehow equal that does
[1:41:44] not allow us to lose amazing
employees and also help our citizen and
[1:41:49] educate and find out what resources
there are to help with taxes, classes,
[1:41:53] educate us.
That's what I wanted. So, I'm excited to
[1:41:57] see that at least there were you did
listen, you do care, and we do see that.
[1:42:03] And I hope that everybody knows that
we're not in it just for a title.
[1:42:08] I'm concerned about everybody in here.
Everybody in here.
[1:42:14] I'm not on social media posting and
taking everybody down. I'm concerned
[1:42:19] about the decision of the city manager,
our police chief, all the staff, our
[1:42:23] council, our mayor. This is heavy on us.
[1:42:28] And I don't play games. I am serious
about what I do here
[1:42:33] and in the community.
I hope what I say, not what I say, but
[1:42:37] what I do speaks more volumes than all
the noise I've heard.
[1:42:42] That's all I have to say.
[1:42:45] » Councilor
Um, you know, I I this is this is this
[1:42:49] is always this is always a hard decision
every single year um because our millage
[1:42:53] rate is, you know, I think um
overall it it it it it
[1:42:57] it is a burdensome on on on citizens and
we are also even though we are council
[1:43:02] members and mayor, we are also citizens.
We also feel the uh impact of this
[1:43:06] millage rate.
Um that's not something I'm particularly
[1:43:09] happy about in general either, but I
think the thing that we need to really
[1:43:12] and I've been saying this since I got
in, since before I got in is
[1:43:18] we we we need to be very focused and
aggressive on
[1:43:25] balancing our tax digest because if we
don't increase our businesses, if we
[1:43:31] don't look into annexation, if we don't
look into, you know,
[1:43:36] developing areas that that need to be
developed and and and and fixed up and
[1:43:40] getting getting more businesses in here,
this is going to be a problem This is
[1:43:44] always going to be a problem. We'll
never get away from this problem. And
[1:43:48] the burden will always get heavier and
heavier and heavier and heavier onto the
[1:43:51] citizens. Right now, we don't have much
of a buffer at all. And and um
[1:43:58] uh
I think
[1:44:00] I think that this that this rate that's
now been proposed by the by the city
[1:44:06] feels like a reasonable compromise.
Um but I but again, it's it doesn't mean
[1:44:12] it's not something I'm going to pat
myself on the back on or that I think
[1:44:15] any of us should be happy about. It's a
necessity. And I think if we are
[1:44:21] committed to fixing this this mill rate,
we need to be committed to diversifying
[1:44:26] our tax revenue. And it needs to be a
priority. We have I've been saying this
[1:44:31] since every single every single time we
have this mill rate talk, I say this
[1:44:34] over and over again.
We We have to do this as a team. We have
[1:44:38] to We have to invest in this town. Or
else this will always be a problem.
[1:44:43] Thanks.
[1:44:46] » No, the
the
[1:44:48] comment that I had is so I just
I had toyed around with um
[1:44:55] why uh
we went this year when 2025
[1:45:02] and we had to make a difference. We had
to make a adjustment in our
[1:45:07] We had to take money out of our reserves
to pay for last year's budget.
[1:45:13] My question is how painful that was to
the city and if we have the ability to
[1:45:21] not
hit the tax rate as high.
[1:45:27] Um
and just pay more at the end of the year
[1:45:31] and continue. We I understand if this is
that this keeps the problem going.
[1:45:39] But we're not
uh saving any um
[1:45:44] we're not adding to our reserves by
taking too much. That's my concern.
[1:45:51] » It's a considerable question, sir.
>> Yeah, is there a Specifically, I started
[1:45:56] out with a question.
[1:45:59] » And the assistant manager,
my feedback will be for how long, how
[1:46:04] many years you can rely on the reserves
save a single time when you don't have
[1:46:08] the expected revenue you're supposed to
rely on the reserves? Cuz the purpose
[1:46:11] for the reserves is number one to make
sure you have enough funding to cover
[1:46:14] operations for 5 to 6 months in a moment
of crisis
[1:46:18] or to carry out the entire year without
a fiscal year is January to December and
[1:46:22] you can rely on the reserves, but also
reserves are are available supposed to
[1:46:26] go to the Georgia fund line, for
example, so we can get some interest or
[1:46:30] maybe uh purchase some property.
So, if we're keeping the reserves only
[1:46:35] to balance right now the budget because
we did not increase the millage rate, um
[1:46:39] how how do you how many more years you
can rely on the reserves right now? But
[1:46:43] I do support council member Mariano's
with the statement in the idea of me to
[1:46:47] focus on increasing residential
businesses, more businesses, economic
[1:46:52] development within the area,
um so we don't we can diversify the
[1:46:57] revenue so we don't rely on
one single source, property taxes.
[1:47:02] Um to your question, sir, yes, this is
an option to cover right now these uh
[1:47:08] the different um
cuts and deficits within the different
[1:47:12] scenarios. Yes, we can use the reserves.
But so far, sir, staff had identified
[1:47:18] already several line items and several
options by reducing city staff and not
[1:47:24] hiring for several positions, by
partially reducing the special events
[1:47:29] budget, we have identified
a good amount of money that is bringing
[1:47:33] us closer to 16.75, which at the same
time we can handle the operations, we
[1:47:38] can move the projects forward, we can
keep the current city staff that we
[1:47:41] have. We're not anticipating hiring more
people than the one that we have
[1:47:44] discussed at the previous meeting.
Um and at the same time we don't need to
[1:47:48] use the reserves.
[1:47:52] » Thank you.
>> Thank you, sir.
[1:47:54] » What's for?
>> Uh this is a tough seat to be in after
[1:47:58] being here 5 months. I'm making final
decision. I mean, um
[1:48:03] you know, it's hard. It's very hard
because we are all taxpayers, we all are
[1:48:07] residents here.
Um
[1:48:10] and I you know, I'm not I've been a
resident for 27 years. I'm not willing
[1:48:15] and I don't want to kick the can down
the road another year of not doing
[1:48:20] anything. I'm not interested in cutting
services. I want to see the city grow. I
[1:48:25] want to expand our tax base. I want to
grow businesses here because that's
[1:48:30] going to be what's going to make the
difference for us long term. And doing
[1:48:33] nothing is going to cost us. I mean,
look at the military for what
[1:48:38] they're dealing with. I mean, every city
that I've read about has had to raise
[1:48:42] their military.
Um so it it it's tough. Nobody likes
[1:48:46] paying any more
uh taxes. I know that I was kind of
[1:48:50] playing with this today because I always
think about the value of the dollar and
[1:48:53] I think about um
just associating my an expense that I I
[1:48:59] go out and I have dinner at Cherokee
Rose, just my husband and I. We don't
[1:49:02] drink alcohol. A meal and a tip, I spent
$230.
[1:49:06] A month from now, I don't think about
that meal. A week from now, I don't
[1:49:10] think about spending that money.
I was looking at
[1:49:14] adding the tax value that I'm adding to
my gas bill. And that extra $200
[1:49:19] I have
our police department that I don't have
[1:49:23] the four fields of what's happening in
Memorial Drive in my neighborhood.
[1:49:29] or in your neighborhood or in front of
our schools. Um
[1:49:32] I also believe in investing in good
uh staffing. Um because without the
[1:49:39] staffing, we can't move forward. We
can't have people um constantly changing
[1:49:45] and us moving the city forward. So, this
is really difficult. Um
[1:49:51] decision to begin for 5 months into to
this job, but I also recognize that the
[1:49:55] cost of everything has gone higher and
talent um recruiting good help and
[1:50:01] creating a good management team with the
administration is very important, just
[1:50:05] like I think it affects every department
uh in staffing. So, I really don't have
[1:50:11] questions. I just have to emphasize it's
easy to um
[1:50:16] think about the big tax bill, but we're
talking about what you're adding to your
[1:50:20] tax bill and the value added of having
the things that we do have
[1:50:25] uh in this city. I mean, Tucker doesn't
have their own police department. They
[1:50:28] call 911, they get to Cab to Cab shows
up.
[1:50:32] You know, we call the police, we know
our police. I mean, where can you go to
[1:50:36] get that? Um you know, I think I'm
seeing a lot of change in the city. Uh
[1:50:41] improvement on the website, better
communication. I don't want to stop them
[1:50:45] in what we've got going on. Uh cuz going
backwards, we've seen what going
[1:50:49] backwards does. 27 years living in the
desert here in the village of Stone
[1:50:53] Mountain and we are in fine real estate.
We've got the opportunity to do
[1:50:57] something. We need to do it.
[1:51:01] Thank you.
>> Post five.
[1:51:15] » third
about $1.5 million dollars.
[1:51:19] Meaning we have overtaxed our citizens
for the last three years.
[1:51:24] And I believe there's
more
[1:51:29] expenses that can be cut.
I believe there's more revenues that can
[1:51:33] be had
through
[1:51:37] getting our tax digest under control,
getting those who are
[1:51:44] using homestead exemptions
that they don't qualify for,
[1:51:49] and other things. I I don't know if
these look at revenues enough
[1:51:54] to
raise
[1:51:57] taxes on our citizens.
So, although I believe an increased
[1:52:02] millage
is necessary, I believe that our
[1:52:07] reserves and our past taxes that have
been paid by our citizens can absorb
[1:52:13] some of this. So,
the 6.75
[1:52:18] is
is high to me,
[1:52:22] and I believe more in the 16.25.
[1:52:30] That's
I'll leave it at that.
[1:52:35] » Council member Bass?
>> Yes, first I'd like to thank the staff
[1:52:39] for what you've done. Um
and
[1:52:45] thank you for the statement you made,
Council member Bass.
[1:52:50] I've been getting a lot of calls, a lot
of bad feedback about this.
[1:52:55] I knew running this election, I ain't
promised nobody lower no taxes. So, what
[1:53:01] was said the last time, I ain't promised
nobody cuz I knew I couldn't do that.
[1:53:06] But,
[1:53:09] just to let you know, I'm citizen too.
Yes, 17.5
[1:53:16] in my mind they become hard.
It's hard.
[1:53:21] But, I know the military has to go up in
order for us to maintain
[1:53:28] the staff that we do have. And and the
the staff is leaving, they can go
[1:53:33] anywhere and make the type of money that
they should. But, I thank the staff that
[1:53:39] is here
helping it out with the city.
[1:53:44] I don't want to see anybody lose their
job, especially our staff. I don't want
[1:53:50] to walk in city hall and stand for a
hour waiting on somebody to come to the
[1:53:54] window just to wait on me. I don't want
to have to call for 911 because
[1:53:59] somebody's breaking in my neighbor's
house and nobody never shows up. That's
[1:54:04] what's going to happen if you start
cutting the staff.
[1:54:08] So, I I I do thank you, Michelle, for
going back over the numbers.
[1:54:14] Um
in my mind, like I said, I knew the
[1:54:17] military had to go up, but in my heart,
no, I didn't want 17.
[1:54:22] Got three homes over there in taxes now.
Retired,
[1:54:26] and the city don't give me enough money
to
[1:54:31] So,
it's hard. And it's it's and it's hard
[1:54:35] on everybody, but I know every year my
taxes are coming. Regardless of the
[1:54:41] amount, it's coming.
So, I've learned to save a little a
[1:54:46] little a little. And now it's even
harder cuz I got another house that I'm
[1:54:51] having to pay taxes on.
But, uh overall, I I I do pray
[1:54:58] that God will guide me and lead me every
time I sit in this chair to make the
[1:55:03] right decisions
for our citizens.
[1:55:06] Cuz I too am for the entire city. I'm
not a Sherman Town councilwoman. I'm a
[1:55:13] city of Stone Mountain councilwoman cuz
Sherman Town didn't put me in office.
[1:55:18] I'm for the entire city.
Whether they voted for me or not. Know
[1:55:23] all about decisions, I understand, are
not going to be the decisions that you
[1:55:28] want to hear. They're not going to be
the decision that you feel that is
[1:55:33] right for you, but we have to look at
the entire
[1:55:44] tax base.
Um
[1:55:47] for what you've done and the
making some more adjustments. Yes, we do
[1:55:53] have papers.
It was a public to the public, but
[1:55:58] council and mayor, we do have your
papers
[1:56:01] where it was cut. A lot of
the departments
[1:56:07] scaled back where they felt it was
comfortable.
[1:56:12] So, I thank you.
Um
[1:56:17] 16.75
is hard, too, but
[1:56:21] it's better than 17.5.
[1:56:29] » Um
So, I just have a couple questions and a
[1:56:32] few comments. Um so, one question based
on the recommended adjustments to the
[1:56:37] budget, there will need to be a budget
amendment once the millage rate is
[1:56:40] adopted, correct?
>> Yes, sir.
[1:56:42] » Okay.
So, that's that. Um couple comments that
[1:56:47] I just want to make sure everybody's
clear of.
[1:56:50] You know, some people say their taxes
went up, but I talked to a lot of people
[1:56:54] whose property values went down.
Um and so, just in the regular math
[1:56:58] equation, if we have a city that's 93%
reliant on residential property taxes,
[1:57:04] and the majority of your city property
values went down,
[1:57:07] then immediately that's less revenue
coming to the city.
[1:57:11] So, we have to figure out how to adjust
that line. Services didn't change.
[1:57:16] The same level of services happened, but
property values went down. So, it goes
[1:57:20] back to Councilmember Mariono's point,
the city hasn't done a prudent or their
[1:57:25] due diligence on really looking at for
the past 20 years how to increase
[1:57:29] revenue.
We've been a bedroom community
[1:57:33] and just hoped that it would always
work.
[1:57:35] Right now, this council is having to
make the hardest decision on how do we
[1:57:38] get to the next level as a city.
Um, cuz if property values went down,
[1:57:43] that means your city was declining.
You had nothing that was picking your
[1:57:47] city up. You had no increase of of
revenue, no increase of development, no
[1:57:51] increase of things like other cities are
doing like Abilene who just added 87
[1:57:55] million dollars to their tax digest.
So, their conversation's a lot different
[1:57:59] than the city of Stone Mountain right
now.
[1:58:01] So, we have to really look at that and
focus, and I I I do commend staff,
[1:58:06] um, and
and the finance team because we're we're
[1:58:10] initially were proposing a temp- a 10%
increase.
[1:58:14] To land at 5% increase, half of what was
being proposed, less than a millage
[1:58:20] rate, I think is impressive.
Um, Council, I commend you all for
[1:58:25] coming and doing extra meetings to try
to figure this out. Staff was here with
[1:58:29] us going over extra meetings, and I I I
commend the public for being vocal and
[1:58:33] letting us know kind of where you were
because we all did this together.
[1:58:38] Um, as we started to talk about staff,
and I I I want to commend our staff for
[1:58:42] wearing multiple hats. That's what a lot
of people do not see.
[1:58:46] » Yes.
>> One position that I believe was was not
[1:58:49] was eliminated was our HR position.
But guess who's going to HR? Our city
[1:58:54] clerk.
And so, we have people that are coming
[1:58:57] in working tireless days, sunup to
sundown, to wear two hats to provide
[1:59:03] services for these for the city because
they believe in where we're going as a
[1:59:07] city. They believe in this council, and
they believe in this community. So, when
[1:59:11] we're saying 16.75,
remember you have people wearing
[1:59:14] multiple hats
that are earning that 16.75.
[1:59:18] Last year, we were at 16, and the
council voted for a rollback rate. That
[1:59:23] wasn't the right move.
Because what we're having to do now is
[1:59:26] we look at this 16.75,
it's trying to put us in a situation we
[1:59:30] don't have to raise the millage rate in
2027.
[1:59:33] Cuz our staff basically told us, "Look,
this is a sustainable budget.
[1:59:37] Position that we're not going to fill in
2027, we're not adding them, but things
[1:59:41] that we need, we're going to make sure
they're there."
[1:59:44] You know, so I just I want the public I
want the council to know like
[1:59:49] yes, the millage rate inflation is at an
all-time high. Everybody saw what
[1:59:53] happened with gasoline prices. It shot
prices up. A lot of stuff, believe it or
[1:59:57] not, runs on oil.
You know, a lot of the products that
[2:00:01] you're buying runs on oil. So, that
means those prices are going up.
[2:00:04] So,
it's more not a millage rate issue, but
[2:00:08] a revenue generation issue. And our city
has to now say, "What city do we really
[2:00:13] want to be? Do we want to be a rural
community truly?" Cuz we are a rural
[2:00:17] community about population, but do we
really want to be a rural community? And
[2:00:20] let me tell you what's happening in
rural Georgia. They're losing hospitals.
[2:00:24] They're losing schools. They're losing
fire departments. They're now having to
[2:00:28] go and ask cities can they combine so
they can have services.
[2:00:33] But that's didn't happen overnight. That
happened over years and years and years
[2:00:38] of not in my backyard. Years of not
moving the city forward. So, Stone
[2:00:42] Mountain has a really tough decision to
make. And I and I commend mayor I mean I
[2:00:47] want to say mayor I commend council and
I commend staff for finding a way to
[2:00:52] meet in the middle, but also
this is not the end, guys. We have to
[2:00:57] really look forward because other than
that we'll be coming back next year
[2:01:00] asking for a higher millage rate if we
do not put in the right work to grow our
[2:01:04] revenues. I want to come here in the
next three or four years and we're
[2:01:07] talking about a millage rate that's
decreasing because we've added revenue
[2:01:11] and we've added development to our city.
So, those are just the comments I have,
[2:01:15] but I again I want to commend staff for
for the hard work they put in and those
[2:01:19] that are working tirelessly wearing
multiple hats.
[2:01:21] The the the job that goes unnoticed. So,
um so, thank you all for that. Um
[2:01:27] I guess that's all the discussion.
Um so, there's no more discussion. Um if
[2:01:31] if there's a motion on the floor
>> I move to approve ordinance 2026-13
[2:01:37] with the adopted millage rate of 16.75
mills.
[2:01:40] » Second.
>> All right, we have a motion and a
[2:01:43] second. Any further discussion?
[2:01:47] Okay, we'll call the vote. Council one.
>> Council one, yes.
[2:01:51] » Mark Brown, council two, yes.
>> Ryan Smooth, council three, no.
[2:01:56] » Kay Nuñez, council four, yes.
[2:02:00] » Council five.
[2:02:03] » Elaine Vaughn, six, yes.
>> That is a 4-2 vote to adopt ordinance
[2:02:10] 2026-13
for a millage rate of 16.75.
[2:02:19] We'll move for resolution 2026-11,
city bank account for confiscated funds.
[2:02:48] » Being one more time.
So, as um
[2:02:52] the finance director of Vincent, we do
have this additional resolution to
[2:02:57] create a new justice asset forfeiture
program bank account.
[2:03:03] This is so we will be in line with
Department of Justice regulations rules
[2:03:08] regarding forfeiture assets.
One proposed One thing that I do think
[2:03:14] we need to change in the proposed
resolution 2026-11.
[2:03:18] Um city manager brought to my attention
if you look at page um the very last
[2:03:23] page of the agenda packet, page 54. I
will read it.
[2:03:28] Three paragraph number paragraph three
um is the requirements of the account.
[2:03:35] For B, in the event that the city
manager is unavailable, we feel like we
[2:03:39] probably do need to add another
signatory and I would propose the mayor.
[2:03:46] And again, that would be, you know, in
in the instance when city manager might
[2:03:50] be out of town.
Happy to answer any questions you may
[2:03:53] have.
>> Before we get started, is this the first
[2:03:55] reading?
>> It's a resolution.
[2:03:58] » Is the resolution not No, okay. Okay,
fine.
[2:04:01] We'll start with the first starter
proposal.
[2:04:04] » That's all at this point. Thank you.
>> And this is just about um compliance.
[2:04:09] It's not We don't We don't plan to I
know that I think we've asked a while
[2:04:14] back about this about forfeitures and
things like that and what we use this
[2:04:18] money for.
Um
[2:04:20] There's not anything We're not Are we
putting this into that? I know we were
[2:04:23] talking about the Georgia fund one. Are
we going to do that?
[2:04:26] » No, this this has to be separate, yeah.
Justice
[2:04:30] » Okay.
>> financial procedures and we fully expect
[2:04:33] an audit.
>> Yeah.
[2:04:34] » Um and so by separating this out and
keeping it separated, it will make the
[2:04:38] audit process easier.
>> All right. Thank you. That's all.
[2:04:41] So, um if Mr. If Chief Westerfield
decides
[2:04:46] uh not to be involved with the city, we
have to change this
[2:04:50] ordinance, correct?
>> It It's a resolution. Yes, we we we
[2:04:54] would have to change it uh because we
would need new signatories anyway.
[2:04:57] » Yeah, I understand. I got it. Thank you.
>> Okay.
[2:05:02] » The floor.
>> I have no questions at this time.
[2:05:05] » The floor.
>> No questions.
[2:05:09] » The floor is open.
>> The floor.
[2:05:10] » Okay. Is there a motion?
>> I'll make a motion to approve resolution
[2:05:14] 2026-11
author- author- author-
[2:05:21] authorizing the establishment of a bank
account for the deposits of personal
[2:05:25] funds derived from Department of Justice
asset forfeiture program, naming
[2:05:29] signatory, and establishing accounting
fund policies.
[2:05:32] » Can you Can you also include adding the
uh secondary signatory?
[2:05:36] » And also add the secondary signatory
to be the mayor.
[2:05:43] » Uh
I second.
[2:05:45] » We have a motion and a second. Any
further discussion?
[2:05:49] We'll call for the vote. Councilwoman
Poston.
[2:05:50] » Councilwoman Poston, yes.
>> Councilman Post two, yes.
[2:05:54] » Councilman Post three, yes.
[2:05:58] » Councilwoman Post four, yes.
>> Post five.
[2:06:06] Okay, that is a unanimous vote for
resolution 2026-11
[2:06:11] city bank account of confiscated funds
with the added signature of the mayor.
[2:06:18] Okay.
We now have remarks of privilege.
[2:06:24] » Any remarks of privilege?
>> Okay.
[2:06:27] We uh now have announcements by the
mayor.
[2:06:31] All right. We got one.
>> I do want to I don't want to forget.
[2:06:34] Stone Mountain Day is having a fish fry
at Leila Mason on June 19th from 5:00 to
[2:06:39] 7:00.
Is it 3:00 to 7:00?
[2:06:43] Is it 3:00 to 7:00?
Is it
[2:06:47] 4:00 to 8:00. Okay, but it is
on June 10th during
[2:06:55] Okay, so just be sure to keep up with
that. It was it's a very It's a very
[2:06:59] well together that people come.
[2:07:04] » Are there no more person privileges? We
have announcements by the mayor. Um just
[2:07:08] want to remind everybody our June 10th
event is happening on Friday along with
[2:07:12] the fish fry. I think we kind of have
same time schedules and that'll be from
[2:07:16] 5:00 to 7:00 and then following that
it'll be tunes by the track from 7:00 to
[2:07:20] 9:00. Um other announcements from the
mayor, I just want council and public to
[2:07:24] know it's okay to disagree. It it is
okay to disagree and that's part of
[2:07:29] having good debate on council and having
a strong council. Um so that's all
[2:07:35] announcements I have by the mayor.
Um and I think we have executive session
[2:07:41] if there's a motion.
>> Yes, I move to adjourn to executive
[2:07:44] session to discuss real estate.
>> Second.
[2:07:48] » All right, there's a motion and a
second. Any further discussion? All in
[2:07:51] favor.
>> Aye.
[2:16:09] » Mhm.
[2:18:04] » Mhm.
[2:21:54] » Mhm.
[2:23:49] » Okay.
[2:25:44] » Mhm.
[2:27:39] » Mhm.
[2:29:34] » Mhm.
[2:33:22] » You do.
[2:35:19] » Yeah.
[2:37:14] » Mhm.
[2:38:25] » So I would move to adjourn the executive
session where we discuss real estate and
[2:38:30] litigation.
>> I second.
[2:38:32] » All right, there's a motion and a
second. Any further discussion?
[2:38:36] Okay, we'll call for the vote. Um
those sorry, those in favor
[2:38:41] » Denise Glasgow, vote one, yes.
>> Mark Reynolds, vote two, yes.
[2:38:44] » Ryan Smith, vote three, yes.
>> Amy Hance, vote four, yes.
[2:38:49] » Don Jordan, vote five, yes.
>> Goodnight Von, vote six, yes.
[2:38:53] » Okay, that's a unanimous vote to adjourn
executive session where we discuss real
[2:38:58] estate and litigation. Now we're at the
favorite part of our agenda.
[2:39:01] Um
>> Can I ask a question?
[2:39:03] » I move to resume the work session.
[2:39:08] » All right, there's a motion and a second
to resume the work session.
[2:39:13] Uh we'll call all in favor.
>> Aye.
[2:39:17] » I move to adjourn.
>> There we go. Is there a second for
[2:39:20] adjournment?
>> I'll second.
[2:39:21] » All right, Mark seconded. Uh
is there a motion and a second for
[2:39:25] discussion? If not, we'll call for the
vote. All in favor.
[2:39:28] » Aye.
[2:41:03] » He's right here.
[2:41:07] » Yeah, he running.
>> Yeah, yeah, I got it.
[2:41:09] » What you want, man?
>> That was always you.
[2:41:14] » What What is it?
>> What do you want, man?