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The American Legion Auxiliary pledged 100% of the donations received from poppy distributions would go to help veterans, service members, and their families. For over a 100red years, the American Legion Auxiliary has been honoring this pledge. This fulfills the true meaning of the poppy, an emblem of faith, faith which has been kept with all who died through service to the living. From generous donations received from Poppy distributions, unit 160 was able to provide the following in 2024. Christmas lunch and gifts for veterans at the Georgia War Veterans Home in Milligville milville on December 21st. Christmas toys for 255 children of active duty military families. Back- to-school supplies for Dobbins Air Force Base families. These are just a few of the ways we help our veterans and active duty military and their families throughout the year. Thank you for this proclamation in recognition of Memorial Day poppy distributions for May 2025 and for allowing us to be here tonight. Thank you so much. Will you come on down and and Susan will give you the u the proclamation. All right. Your your best American smile, please. See you too. We have a very effective and active American Legion and Veterans Committee and other folks that do a wonderful job of honoring our men and women of the military. And uh this Memorial Day, we'll have another cere memorial day ceremony uh on the in the Veterans Memorial Park. So really appreciate the all the work that you all do every year. Oh, you're welcome. Thank you all. Thanks, Mona. Nice seeing you. All right, we'll move on to item 6B, proclamation in recognition of mental health awareness month. Um, I think we may have some representatives from the mental health community. Um, we had expected typically uh the Cobb Collaborative who's uh located here right here in Smyrna. Irene Barton is the executive director and does a wonderful job.

And then Highland Rivers is our is the Cobb County um meteor service board which I should know that CSP and uh I know they had expected to be here, but I'll ask uh um Council Member Hines to read the proclamation. Okay. Thank you very much, Mayor Pro Tim. Um, so it's a proclamation by the mayor of the city of Smyrna in recognition of mental health awareness month 2025. Whereas May was first recognized in 1949 as mental health awareness month to educate, raise awareness, and recognize the importance of mental and behavioral health. And whereas mental and behavioral health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also affects how we handle stress related uh relate to others and make choices. And whereas according to the CDC, one in five Americans will experience a mental illness in a given year, millions of people will also be affected by mental illness each year, carrying physical, social, and financial impacts. And whereas every person shares the burden of mental and behavioral health problems and has a responsibility to promote mental health wellness and support prevention efforts. And whereas the need for comprehensive coordinated mental and behavioral health services is a critical responsibility and is fundamental to the future of our community. And whereas Congress passed the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act of 2020, which established 988 as a crisis number where a person in mental health crisis can speak with a trained counselor for immediate assistant, in 2022, 988 became available in Georgia. And whereas every cit every resident and community can make a difference in helping end the silence and stigma that for too long has surrounded mental illness and discourage people from getting help. Now therefore, I, Derek Norton, mayor of the city of Smyrna, Georgia, do hereby proclaim May 2025 as mental health awareness month in the city of Smyrna.

As the mayor, I call upon citizens, government agencies, public and private institutions, businesses, law enforcement, and schools to recommmit increasing awareness and understanding of mental and behavioral health. Steps our residents can take to protect their mental health, foster resilience, and the need for appropriate and accessible services for all people with mental and behavioral health. And this is on the day the fifth day of May of this year. Um, I'm deeply appreciative of this uh proclamation. As a person who works in public safety and has done so for the last 20 years, me mental health awareness is so important. Unfortunately, a lot of times people who have such issues um come involved with our criminal justice system and the criminal justice system really is not the place where they should be getting the needs that they need. So, I'm thankful for places like the Cobb Collaborative and um and uh Highland Rivers as well and community service board for doing that. And and additionally also recognizing that um we have people who are in public service who encounter quite a bit of things as well and they also need to be you know uh given resilience and and support because they deal with a lot of um very impactful things that also infect their mental health as well. So, I'm happy that we as a city uh are recognizing that. And green is the color for mental health awareness uh month. So, if you see people wearing some green, that might be part of that or whatever. So, thank you. Thank you, Lonia. Appreciate that. All right, we'll move on to uh item seven, community development items. There are none. Uh agenda item eight, privilege license and show cause hearing. There are none. Move along to formal business.

Item 9A atth 20225-075 authorization and certification of the estimated roll back rate to establish 8.99 mills as the millage rate to be provided to the Cobb County taxers office and the Cobb County Tax Commission Commissioner's Office for the 2025 assessment notices. Garland, you'd like to read the background for me, please. 581, also known as Save Our Homes Act in Georgia, was approved and signed into law during the 2024 regular session and is a bill that aimed to provide property tax relief to homeowners by implementing a statewide homestead exemption. The city opted out of new homestead because the city's current floating homestead exemption was more advantageous to the taxpayer. All required hearings were held and that was filed by the deadline. A provision of this bill was that the local governments had to provide an an estimated roll back rate to the county tax commissioner by March 31 to be placed on the tax assessment noticed. Finance and administration in consultation with legal provided the anticipated millage rate of 8.99 mills to the county to be included on assessment notices. during the 2025 regular session HB92 made several modifications to the pre previously HB581 to clarify several key areas. One of those was to require a formal vote by the governing authority to certify the estimated roll back rate for the tax assessment notices. The formal certification as required of the estimated roll back rate to establish 8.9 to be provided. 581 through HB. Thank you, Mr. Garland. I think um the commentary is we 8.99 mills has been the mill rate for the city of Smyrna for 13 or 14 years and we've not uh not raised it and don't have any expectations to raise that mill rate anytime soon. Uh any comments from council? Seeing none, uh, take a motion, please. Motion by Mr. Lindley. Second by Mr. Pickkins. All in favor? Motion passes.

5-0. Item 9B, ATTH2025-077, authorization to approve change order, additional work for the Parkway Drive Box Culver Replacement Project to KM Davis Contracting Company, 3259 Ostell Road, Marietta, Georgia 30008. the amount not to exceed $111,730 to be paid from the 2025 stormwater fund and to bring the total project cost to to a not to exceed amount of $496,570 and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all documents. Mr. Garland, the background, please. This request is based off an already approved storm water project by mayor and council that was approved on August 26, 2024 in an amount not to exceed 384,840. However, due to unforeseen utilite, we were required to meet certain depth and coverage requirements by them which required the city to expand our scope slightly to achieve these requirements. in return caused need for a change order in the amount not to exceed $111,730 to be funded from the 2025 storm water count. Public works recommends approval of the change order, additional work for the Parkway Drivebox covert replacement project to KM Davis Contracting Company Incorporated. to bring the total project cost to a not to exceed amount of $496,570 and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all documents. Thank you, sir. Um it's this project is in ward five, council member Wilkinson's ward. Yes, I would uh move to approve item 9B um AT2025-077 as previously read. Have a second. Second by Miss Hines. Motion passes 50. Item 9C, ATTH 2022-079, authorization requesting a parks and recreation job reclassification from part-time receptionist to part-time social media public relations specialist and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all related documents. Mr. Garland, the department has a need for dedicated staff to provide pro promotions currently open. We would like to reclassify parks and recreation and HR recommended authorization requesting a parks and recreation job require receptionist to part-time social media public works public relations specialist.

Thank you sir. Seems like a good reclassification. Uh can I have a motion please? Moved by Move by Mr. Oglesby. Second by Mr. Lindley. All in favor? Passes 5-0. Uh consent agenda. Mr. Garland. Item A is MI2025-086 approval of the April 17, 2025 committee of the whole minutes. Item B is MIN2025-088 approval of the April 21, 2025 pre-consil meeting minutes. Item C is 2025-090 approval of the April 21, 2025 Maryland council minutes. Item D is ATTH2025-081 authorization to approve road closure for Stillfire Brewery Powder Spring Street at King Street for a period of 519 2025 to 523 2025 for the installation of a new 8 inch sanitary sewer service for the brewery site Travis Lindley. Item E is ATTH2025-083 authorization for the approval of follows King Street from Stevens to Bank West Spring Street from the traffic circle to King Street. Bank Street from King Street to Village Walk every Sunday beginning Sunday May 10th 2025 through Sunday October 19th 2025 for the hours of 8:00 am to 3 p.m. This is Item F is ATTH2025-085 authorization to allow construction activity for the windy starting at 8:00 p.m. on May 8 continuing several weeks later for an additional five six to eight days the surface asphalt course in the crew and local access lanes respectively this also thank you Mr. Garland. Do I have a motion, please? Moved by Mr. Lindley, second by Mr. Elglesby. All in favor? Motion passes 5-0. Sir, um let's see be uh we have public comment next. And before that, I'd like to ask Lieutenant Hansen from the Smyrna PD if you could join us up front and uh there's some activity here that I think some of folks here tonight want to want to talk about. And I think Lieutenant Hansen might be able to to share an update and also have a a a uh uh representative from the PD to hear hear the um comments from our from our residents.

So, anything you could share about the incident in Atons? investigation. Okay, thank you. Um, so Mayor Mayor Proton, um, because I know they're going to have their public comment, if we could have PD hold because They have some concerns that they would like PD to address. Yeah. Yep. And Lieutenant, you'll stay for public comment. Yep. Thank you. Thank you, sir. All right. So, uh, public comment, uh, first person signed up is, uh, Latia uh, Taylor Pearson, 101 Afton Way. Did I get your name correct, ma'am? Yes. My name is Latarsia Taylor Pearson. Latasha. Thank you. Hello. Good evening to you, Mayor Pro Tim and Council. My name is Latasha Pearson and I live in Ward One in Afton Down subdivision. I would like to begin by saying that I am the daughter of a retired police sergeant in the state of Alabama. So I have some insight into the dangers our officers face each day to serve and protect our communities. I appreciate and honor them for their sacrifice they make to keep us safe. Between 2:30 and 2:40 a.m. on Sunday morning, my husband and I were awakened by gunshots right outside our bedroom window and in our front yard. We immediately dove out of bed to the floor to get into the hallway so that we could get upstairs to our three daughters who also have a room right above ours. My daughters, who are 9, 12, and 13, had to crawl down the stairs through the living room so they could get in the basement. I realized that I did not have my phone to call 911. So, my husband bravely called back to our bedroom to get his cell phone. My first call to 911 was at 2:43 a.m. And to my surprise and anxiousness, no one answered the call. I called back. I thought to myself, why is no one answering?

Did I call the wrong number? I called back at 2:44 a.m. And I was met with a response. Is this in is this in regards to gunshots? I said yes and I was told that officers were being dispatched to the area. I called again at 3:02 because we could still hear gunshots and we were told that they were on the way. The dispatcher immediately disconnected the call. She imbruptly disconnected the call without giving me the opportunity to speak. Because of how Abruptly she ended the call. I called back at 3:03 to let them know the seriousness of the situation and the gun stops shots were still being heard. I was told that this was not an emergency and that I needed to call the non-emergency line and I was told not to call back. That's at 3:03 a.m. My family and I stayed in the basement until 3:26 a.m. Mr. Pro Mayor Pro Tim on Sunday. I did not feel safe or confident in this situation or future emergencies that my call to 911 would be managed in a way that would preserve the life of me, my family, or my neighbors. Bullets entered homes. They damaged vehicles. Thank God no lives were lost. My daughters want me to share these words with you. We were terrified in that basement, waiting for you to come and no one was showing up. Not only is there broken glass scattered across the grounds, the hearts of our neighborhood is broken. We need every call to be taken seriously with professional phone etiquette and swift response times. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Trailer Pearson. Um, you know, one of the things that, um, I do and the mayor and everybody in council takes, you know, our number one priority is ensure the safety of our residents.

And um so we we we're going to listen tonight and we'll I'm sure they'll be uh um circling back with you all with uh with updates and next next steps. So we really apologize for the your experience and um it should not happen. Uh, next person signed up is uh Dominique D Christophano. Dris mind saying that? Sorry. 251 Oak Lane. Yes, sir. Hi, my name is Dominic D. Christopher and I live at 25501 Oak Lane and represent the community of Woodbury in Smyrna, Georgia. The Woodbury community is uh resides on a dead end street at the intersection of Spring Street and Bell Drive. We share a dead end with the Aptton Downs community um on Sunday. I won't recount everything that happened, but um I live closest to the home in the Oakborn community and the response time of the police was unacceptable in my opinion. Um we waited 20 minutes for anyone to show up and uh we don't feel safe. Um we are asking for additional police patrol and to feel safe to have a safe place to raise our families in our community. Um it's you know and I also experienced similar um um etiquette on the phone with the 911 patrol officer or um the 911 uh agent on the phone. Um is this about shootings? Yes, police are coming. And I was also hung up on um uh that's unacceptable. Um, and I called twice as well because there were two incidents of shootings and they were about two to three minutes apart from one another. So when the second happened, I called back again. I said, "Where is the police?" And I was dismissed off the phone. They're coming. So, um, unacceptable. Um, to my knowledge, no one was hurt in this incident. However, there are bullet holes in multiple homes across both streets, car windows broken, and an immeasurable amount of fear are placed within our communities.

So, I'm asking for additional police patrol to make us feel safe for the coming months. And um I think that we deserve that community to feel safe. Um I'd like to thank Glenn Peters Pickkins, sorry. Um because I believe what someone from our board, Nick, has been in contact with you about this incident and you responded um in the same day. So, thank you. I believe you're a part of you're in the jurisdiction of our ward. So, thank you for that. I yield the rest of my time. Thank you, sir. Appreciate your comments. And and if I guess if we could um if you don't mind to give it to um the clerk uh your email address. I'm not sure. Just make sure we can get get back circle back with you all. Great. Diana Bllelock 2519 Oborn Lane. Good evening everyone. My name is Diana Bllelock. I'm the president of the HOA for the Woodbury Town Homes. Um, and without repetition of the situation, I did want to mention that when my husband and I moved into that neighborhood, he is ex-military and we have a lot of individuals in the police force. So, we truly respect all that you do. Um, we took a lot of trips down that back neighborhood just to kind of assess the area because we moved from a high-rise apartment in Buckhead that had a shooting in the lobby and we had a one-year-old son at the time. So, we got out of there very quickly. Um, through all of our drivebys, if it was at night, if it was during the day, it just seems like such a peaceful, nice neighborhood back there in Afton Downs. Um, and unfortunately through the situation, we were able to meet a lot of the neighbors and just understand their history and living there. Um, couple of concerns, I guess.

definitely the response time. Um the next day as we drove by a lot of neighbors were pulling together but there was like no coverage I guess you know media coverage is not always good not always bad but it's there's no awareness to the situation. Um, we didn't see any police presence even throughout the day like drivebys. Even today as I kind of took a couple walks around, didn't see the same thing. And I think that's very important because everyone looks towards HOA or leaders of the community to kind of fix it or do something about it. And as much as we can do, we can also do little, right? Um, some of the neighbors that did have bullet holes, and I'm not sure if uh one of our neighbors was able to speak, but they were luckily out of town when they came home. They saw a hole right above a five-month-old crib that shot through their home. Um, I don't know if those houses the doors was knocked, people were checked on to see if they're alive. I can imagine living single and some happening to me, maybe not having the awareness there. Um, but I know there was a lot of surveillance footage and this kind of streamlines into a little bit of my next point and I'll watch my time, but in living here for about two years, my interaction through a lot of situations that we've had in our neighborhood such as multiple incidents of car break-ins where we were we put in the report, we have v video footage because our neighborhood has cameras everywhere. Um, and we'll put the report in, but there's never like an aftermath. There's no heightened patrol. There's nothing that we visibly see happening after these reports are put in. Um, we've called for non-residents, teenagers hanging between our residents.

Um, we had security claiming they were working for us and we called police officers and I actually called and spoke with them and some of the police officers were, "Well, they're work for you." I'm like, "I'm the president of the HOA. I would know if we have security. We don't. I don't know what's happening." And it was some back and forth before finally realizing it was for a different community. Um there's a lot of soliciting that goes on there and I know that's a little bit more HOA uh managed but um even we had like strange behavior from someone walking up and down our street broad daylight with a suitcase opening car doors report was filed footage was submitted and when I asked the neighbors like did you find out anything about this there was no aftermath about it so I guess shame on me because a lot of the times being the HOA president we feel like we do our due diligence to make sure we file the report maybe we need to be educated on what our next step is or how to follow up because a lot of times when you do we get the response of like we can't share something with you when in fact having little children in these areas one of the most important ways to start feeling safe is to understand what happens in the aftermath that night that that incident happened we had footage of gentlemen hopping over the fence two houses away from me where on a Saturday night you might find me having a glass of wine I don't even know what I would do if I saw someone with a rifle coming up to my backyard and oops, they took a wrong turn in black masks and and it just like it gives me the most anxiety.