Return of the Roundup, July 18, 2022

Back by popular demand: the Monday Morning Roundup. Past versions were incredibly long. We’ve condensed this headline-style roundup so that you can find the information you need more quickly. It is The Clayton Crescent’s hope that you will use this information to plan ways of interacting with your local government and elected officials, whether that’s showing up for regularly-scheduled council meetings or organizing your community for specific actions or changes you want to see. Democracy only works when citizens become voters and voters become active participants in their own governance. If you can’t go to a meeting, call or e-mail your elected officials beforehand for more information.

Terminology

• Agenda: list of items that an elected or appointed body will cover during a meeting. It is possible for any member to ask the body as a whole to add one or more unannounced items to the agenda. That’s one reason why it’s important to watch or attend these meetings.
• Agenda packet: contains the agenda and supporting materials that will come up at the meeting. Zoning applications, maps, architectural drawings; copies of proposed resolutions, ordinances, bills (meaning possible changes to the law); memos, letters, contracts; etc. Not every document relevant to the agenda will appear in the agenda packet. That’s where Open Records Requests can come in handy.
• Work session: A period before or after a meeting where members discuss upcoming agenda items, but do not vote on them. Work sessions in some jurisdictions have taken the place of open discussion during meetings where the vote is taken. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the work session.
• Regular meeting/business meeting: A meeting where an elected or appointed body hears public input on agenda items, ideally before voting on those items. The Board of Commissioners recently voted to move public comment to the end of its regular meeting, effectively cutting off the public’s ability to address the body in public before it votes on agenda items. Because the next meeting agenda is not ready at the time of public comment, citizens are unable to address the body in public on future items up for a vote. This means citizens must have some advance knowledge of pending items in order to write or call their elected officials about those items.
• Special called meeting: An emergency meeting called in between regularly scheduled meetings of an elected or appointed body. These meetings come with very short advance warning to the public.
• You can learn more about Georgia’s Open Meetings Act and Open Records Act in Sunshine Laws: A Guide to Open Government in Georgia, published by the Georgia First Amendment Foundation. Here’s a free PDF copy for your convenience:

Monday, July 18

6:30 p.m.: Lovejoy City Council (6:30 pm work session) (7 p.m. meeting) has been cancelled according to the city’s website.

6 p.m. Forest Park City Council (6 p.m. work session agenda) (7 p.m. regular meeting agenda)

The council will vote on whether to award a bid to redo Main Street’s streetscape to BRTU Construction. Neither the agenda packet nor documents on the city’s bid website indicate the amount of BRTU’s winning bid, nor the amounts of all bids submitted. This sheet shows which companies’ representatives showed up for the pre-bid meeting, which is a good indication of which companies intended to submit bids on the project:

These included TriScapes, Excellence Construction LLC, Backbone Infrastructure, IP Construction LLC, Construction 57 Inc., SD&C Inc., Diversified Construction of Georgia, Falcon Design Consultants LLC, and Robert and Company.

Also on Monday’s work session agenda: the city wants to install FLOCK automated license plate reader cameras within the city limits. Other Clayton County cities, as well as the county itself, have installed automatic license plate readers, which tell police where a car is in real time and records photos and videos of cars passing each camera. Privacy advocates have criticized the idea that the police should be able to monitor individual cars’ comings and goings without probable cause, noting such systems are ripe for abuse and that the company is supplying data for a mass surveillance system. Advocates cite specific instances in which ALPRs helped catch criminal suspects and claim that only law enforcement officers can access the data.

The council also will consider a “clean-up” ordinance to set various city fees. Those would include increases for permanent and temporary signs, new fees for residential rental property inspections, a $25 annual fee for sidewalk sales, and fee hikes for renting city facilities (the community center, as well as weekend rentals for the amphitheater, Kiwanis Stadium, the gym, and pavilions). Here are all the proposed rate changes. You may need to scroll or rotate your device to see the full page:

Tuesday, July 19

6:30 p.m. Morrow Planning and Zoning Board (agenda)

The Morrow Planning and Zoning Board will hear a request from the company that owns the Drury Inn to subdivide the property.

6:30 p.m. Clayton County Board of Commissioners (agenda packet)

The Board of Commissioners will vote to set up times for a pre-agenda meeting on the first Tuesday of each month and for a “Committee of the Whole” meeting at 5:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. As with any meeting involving a quorum, those meetings would be open to the public and the press.

Public comment will not take place until after the end of the zoning hearings, which follow the regular consent agenda, discussion items, and board appointments. If you want to address the board, prepare for a long wait.

Another resolution, 2022-157, is “supplementing” a previous resolution, 2022-146, “to enter into an amended Intergovernmental Agreement with the Development Authority of Clayton County” to develop property “associated with Gilbert Road Joint Venture.” The resolution would define terms and conditions for the county’s involvement in providing technical support for road improvements near the 88-acre project in Mountain View.

See the many other items of interest on the agenda, which are too numerous to review here.

The agenda also includes the monthly report of contracts, contract modifications, and change orders for June. These changes were authorized by Director of Central Services Carol Rogers and/or Chief Operating Officer Detrick Stanford and include:

• $212,459 for Gardner Spencer Smith Tench & Jarbeau, P.C. of Atlanta, using 2021 SPLOST Bond Proceeds, in a Scope Change Authorization for additional site, civil, survey and landscape architectural services.
• Amend the current contract with located in Marietta, Georgia to C.W. Matthews Contracting Co., Inc., revise the cost per ton pricing. Funding would come from “various” SPLOST Funds, the Transportation and Development Department’s General Fund and various Georgia Department Grant Funds.
• $106,611 for repairs at the Reynolds Nature Preserve using 2021 SPLOST Funds, for Garland/DBS, Inc. of Cleveland, OH. The contract is through OMNIA Cooperative Purchasing for Roofing Supply and Services, Waterproofing and Related Products and Services.
• A no-bid, special purpose, $180,636.93 five-year service agreement with Feith System and Software, Inc. of Fort Washington, PA for a records management system, in these amounts: Year One $32,690.73; Year Two $34,325.27; Year Three $36,041.53; Year Four $37,843.61; Year Five $39,735.79, all from the Information Technology General Fund.
• an $83,397.39 sole source contract for an EMS Fire Policy Manual and Daily Training Subscription for Lexipol, LLC of Fresco, TX. The one-year agreement includes the option of two more one-year periods at $27,799.13 each. Funding would come from the Fire & Emergency Services Department’s General Fund.
• a $180,000, one-year professional services agreement with The Firm for Justice and Liberty Attorneys and Counselors at Law, LLC of Atlanta. The contract includes the option for two more years at $60,000 each. Funding would come from Juvenile Court Services Indigent Defense Fees.
• $163,569.75 to buy and install bollards in front of the Clayton County Police Department headquarters to Hercules Fence of Maryland, LLC, of Jessup, MD. The contract uses the General Services Administration (GSA) Schedule Contract #GS07F171GA for the Purchase and Installation of Parking Lot Security Bollards and Fencing at the Police Headquarters. The money would come from CCPD’s General Fund.
• Approval of RFP #22-97, an annual contract for tennis management services, by Atlanta Tennis Group, LLC, of Atlanta. The request comes from Parks and Recreation but is funded by the participants, not the county.
• a $405,000, no-bid special purpose contract with Africa’s Children’s Fund, Inc. of Atlanta, “for program administration fees for the allocation of $1,000,000 in rental and utility assistance to Clayton County residents.” Funding would come from Georgia DCA reallocated grant funds.
• $192,316.80 for SWC #19-235 annual contract for software and ancillary services analog add-ons requested by Information Technology. The contract would use the Statewide Contract with SHI International Corporation of Somerset, NJ and would be paid out of the General Fund.
• a no-bid, sole source one-year contract for $175,000 to Canyon Solutions of Phoenix, AZ to convert Jcasts Court to a .net platform, using money from the Juvenile Court’s General Fund.
• a no-bid, sole source contract for $122,947.50 to Just Appraised, Inc. of San Francisco, CA for deed ownership management. The contract would pay $47,000 the first year ($39,000 plus $4,000 training fee and $4,000 integration fee), with two more one-year contracts possible at $39,000 per year “with escalation of 5% per year.”
• a recommendation to award an unspecified amount to A-com Fire Solutions, LLC of Stockbridge for an annual contract for alarm and sprinkler inspection services under ITB 22-28. This recommendation went through the sealed bid process and would be paid out of the Building Maintenance Department’s General Fund.

Acting Chief Financial Officer Stacey Merritt will offer three budget amendments for FY2023:

• $11,000,000 to build Fire Station 13 and the Fire Headquarters/Clinic Building
• $3,934,049 carried forward from two fire trucks sold in FY2022 to cover “additional cost for the Public Safety Water Rescue Training Sim, Owners Contingency,” as well as for construction of Fire Station 15.
• “for Park Improvement funds in the SPLOST 2021 program”

Zoning matters include:

• District 1 (Anderson): A request by TDC Logistics Company (Transwestern) to change a future land use amendment from General Commercial (GC) to Mixed Use Commercial and Industrial (MXI), which would allow a 265,200 sqare foot warehouse and distribution facility at 5490 and 5544 Highway 42 at Forest Parkway in Ellenwood. The parcels re 12171C A001 and 12171A A002. The same company also wants the site rezoned from General Business (GB) to LI (Light Industrial) and is asking for a conditional use permit. Planning and Zoning and ZAG recommends denial on all three requests.
• District 3 (Franklin): Kohaleth Knight wants a conditional use permit for a funeral home at 1575 Commercial Court in Jonesboro (Parcel 06066C B015), near Tara Boulevard and Commercial Court. Both Planning and Zoning and ZAG recommend approval with one condition: compliance with Clayton County Health Department inspection requirements.
• District 2 (Hambrick): Royalty Kidz Creation wants a conditional use permit for a special event facility at 6267 Riverdale Road, Riverdale (Parcel 13120D C001), near Steeplechase Lane. Both Planning and Zoning and ZAG recommend approval with one condition: a 35-person maximum occupancy under the Fire Marshall’s requirements.
• District 4 (Davis): Sam’s Club is requesting a conditional use permit to double the number of fueling pumps from 12 to 24 at this time 7325 Jonesboro Road, Morrow (Parcel 12080C Boo5) at Battlecreek Road. Both Planning and Zoning recommend approval with three conditions:
  • “address the reduction of parking spaces resulting from the proposed expansion”
  • “adhere to fueling station development standards…in Section 4.22”
  • make at least two of the 12 new stations EV charging stations, which “may be located away from the gasoline pumps.”
• District 2 (Hambrick): Lily Lim is seeking a conditional use permit for an automobile, truck trailer and boat sales and leasing business at 5575 Frontage Road, Forest Park (13084 085007), near Southfield Parkway. Planning and Zoning and ZAG both recommend approval with one condition: only auto sales and leasing, not trucks and trailers. Lim also wants a conditional use permit for a car rental business there, for which both Planning and Zoning and ZAG recommend approval.
• District 1 (Anderson): Pacific Group, LLC is requesting a future land use map amendment from General Commercial (GC) to High Density Residential (HDR) for a 64-unit attached townhome development at 6688 Mt. Zion Blvd. (12108A Coo2) in Morrow, near Maddox Road. It’s also seeking to rezone the 15.37-acre parcel from General Business (GB) to Multi-Family Residential (RM). Both Planning and Zoning and ZAG recommend approval.
• District 1 (Anderson): Beena Simmon is seeking a conditional use permit for a tire sho at 5218 Highway 42, Suite C (Parcel 12181D A009) in Ellenwood, near the corner of Forest Parkway. Both Planning and Zoning and ZAG recommend denial.

Wednesday, July 20

9 a.m.: Invest Clayton (Special Called Meeting Notice)

The Development Authority of Clayton County (Invest Clayton) will hold a special called meeting on the Gilbert Road Joint Venture project. The board will consider approval of the first amended intergovernmental agreement with Clayton County, Georgia, for an industrial development in the Mountain View area, as well as for a first amendment to the purchase and sale agreement between DACC and Gilbert Road Joint Venture. The board also says it will hold an executive session to discuss personnel, real estate, “or” potential litigation. See The Clayton Crescent’s coverage of Gilbert Road.

Thursday, July 21

TBA

Friday, July 22

TBA

Saturday, July 23

TBA

Please check back for additional meeting information as we update this list!