Meeting discussionsStart with a topic.

You all know how expensive it can be to maintain uh your green spaces, your streets, your alleys to the level of care and quality that residents expect. You can work with a developer earlier on to understand what is your role as a city, what is their role as a developer in the ongoing maintenance of some of these spaces. Some of which might be public and some of which might be privately owned but operate in a public manner. All of this is organized in an implementation matrix. It sets out the recommendation, our suggested timeline for it between a short term which is less than a year, a medium-term one to three years and a longer term of three to five years. and then kind of a lead um the city department to lead some of these efforts and then partners within the city to help support that effort. You see here um you know uh the implementation matrix for collaborating with a selected developer. It shows you know everything itemized including things like you know working uh to get retail tenanting strategies working with a developer to ensure a mix of housing you know things that are important to you all. So, with that, I would love to open it for discussion and thank you all uh for being such great partners through this process and with the community. Thank you. You've done incredible work. We're we're so happy that you were that you were the one chosen to do this uh because it's been it's been a great process all the way and I think what we've come up with is something that the citizens can be proud of and and as kind of a like you said, it's going to change but a really good starting point for what's possible. uh expanding the downtown. Mr. Lley, anything you want to add?

Uh no, I know we've got uh got some folks here that have worked uh handinhand with the city, but uh a huge thank you to Louise. Uh your leadership is much appreciated. Uh and I think it has been uh crucial to guiding uh the public comment engagement to a concept here tonight that truly starts the starts the process. So, thank you. Thank you, Mr. Welch. Yeah, very quickly and you you really don't have to answer this question. You can get with Andrea and she can give me the feedback. But in the the RFP process, RFQ, RFPI, how we go about that. We're going to be asking these groups to put together real detailed presentations, I'm assuming, with a a heavy cost. I mean, there may be 20, 30, $30,000 worth of preliminary work to go into this. Are we considering some type of reimbursement or or payment for this or and and you Andrew, you don't have to answer it right now if y'all don't have it, but um I'm just curious about that. I'm happy to start the the answer, but that is one of the benefits of doing an RFQ and a process first and followed by an RFP. The RFP process like you said is a costly time consuming endeavor especially if you have um you know things that you want to see like their vision for the site. The benefit of doing the RFQ first is that they only have to prove that they have the experience, the qualifications and um you know that they are willing partners. So then you narrow it down. Uh ideally in an RFQ process you narrow it down to three to five developers. That way they're already invested and more willing to do that in time consuming and cost uh you know costly endeavor of putting an RFP together. There is significant interest uh in this process already.

So it it is something that you you will expect to see uh you know quite a lot of development um engagement. Andrew, is there anything else you'd like to say? Yes. So I he answered the question about the RFQRP and what the advantage of that is but to the point of significant interest um you know when we got a little news coverage on the third public meeting uh the phone's been ringing off the hook uh with interested parties and again right now you know the message to them is you know we've been meeting with them asking them you know what would they like to see in an RFQ RFP so they will respond in a way that we want them to respond but the number one thing I think folks have said so far is when they see the amount of public engagement and the amount of support uh that this plan has. That's what gets them excited. They've already passed one level of, you know, complication, so to speak, to know what the community really wants to see. and and that is one of the reasons that I u we recommend working with a real estate advisory firm to guide you through uh the RFP process and ensuring that you know you all are asking the right things and not asking things that are removing, you know, otherwise qualified developers. You know, of course, cities can do this without an owner's representative, real estate advisory firm. You all have incredibly talented staff that could do this in-house, but if you do want guidance, um, you know, there are experts there that will do, uh, developer outreach, um, you know, things that you are already doing. uh and then we'll help you kind of figure out what are the the the terms to include in an RFQ or an RFP because I agree with you.

You don't want to create a a document or a process that's so honorous that you know you disencourage folks to participate in it. The great thing like you mentioned we've got Andrea who's been through this in Sandy Springs and and is familiar so we'll follow her lead and and and get a good process going. remind us when the RFP is scheduled to or RFQ. When does that process begin? Because like you said, there's a lot of people calling and meeting with a lot of folks and having discussions. Once that goes out, those stop, right? So, when is that? I would recommend that we look at that sometime later this year, mid year. We've still got some work to do on the front end. Again, want to consider whether or not we want to hire um someone to be on our side, so to speak, in representing our interest. So, we've got further discussion before we want to open that up, but I would anticipate by the summer. Any other questions or comments from council on this? Mr. Gold, just a uh thank you, Lewis, Louis, and uh and Andrew, of course, right, and and council member Lindley. um really appreciate your expertise, your guidance and as we talk think about going forward, right, knowing the value of somebody who's been through this process before, right, to to help us, Andrea has of course, but the process that I've seen to be successful in the city is when we've had some expertise involved in throughout the So this point has been highly valuable along with our community who's been engaged and uh some really talented folks on the committee too that uh lended their input. So, thank you very much. Thank you. I appreciate it. And I would just like to state how fantastic city staff has been through this process. The engagement doesn't happen by itself.

Uh Andrea and Jennifer have really done a fantastic job getting folks to the meeting and making sure people know that this process has been happening. Thank you. I'm going to go off script a little bit. Um we are going to vote on this on our first uh action item of the night. We're still under the presentations and I know a lot of you have made an effort to be here tonight. If there is anybody in the audience who would like to speak on this or any have any thoughts on this development, I know we've had a ton of public input already, but if if you've got a thought that you'd like to share with us about it, um this would be the appropriate time. Or if you even think you want to come in and get sworn in by our city attorney, don't don't need to be sworn in. All right. Don't need to be sworn in. Okay, come on up. if you'll just state your name and address for the record for us and be glad to hear what you have to say. Good evening. I'm Marie Smith from 1215 Bank Street and great proposal. It looks great. I'm really excited about it, but I'm hoping that the city would have learned our lesson on green um trees for what we'll be able to keep for this one because sales do not provide the shade that trees provide. So hopefully we'll look at keeping more of the trees for this development. Good evening. Sean Murphy, 3282 Lee Street. Um really a kind of a question uh I don't think I heard it mentioned but uh is there a chance that we would look at breaking this into pieces or is it going to be considered all as one development done at one time? Just wondering what kind of thoughts have gone into with like two potentially multif family large pieces.

Is there a chance we would separate this into two pieces or is it definitely going to be done as one? Andrea, you want to take that one? Yeah, I don't think we've determined that yet. Again, that's more discussion, more phasing. We've got some steps to go before we get there. Okay. Hey, what's up, guys? Mr. Mitchell. Uh, my name is Mike Mitchell. I live at 1181 Church Street, and I actually was one of the plan ambassadors. Um, so I have been to all of these engagements and helped push the word about the survey, etc. And I just wanted to comment and thank Louise specifically for all of his hard work. It was really cool being part of that process. and coming to the first town hall meeting and we worked at action stations where people came and asked questions and got involved etc. and then coming to the second meeting and seeing that those thoughts had actually been put into work and they had been exercised and they had been thought through and they had been evaluated. Um, oftentimes in our culture, we government officials say, "We've talked to people and this is ultimately what was decided." In this case, it actually happened. The voices of Smyrna have been heard. Um, it it's going to be a headache. I live right off Church Street. It's going to be sure it's going to be a headache, but it's going to be an amazing opportunity for us to showcase what this little city can do. So, I just wanted to say thank you. I really really appreciate it and thank you specifically. It was great working with you. Yes sir. Hi. I've been in this process from the very beginning. I just want to say this is a great opportunity for the city of Smyrna to make this place a destination and appreciate the hard work. He didn't say his name and address, but he's on the committee. I bet we can find it. Yeah. Thank you, sir. Yeah. Thank you. Anybody else? All right. I appreciate y'all being here. This is obviously something that is so important to this community as evidenced by all the people who have come out um not only over the past several months but also this evening uh for this vote. So we'll we'll move on now then to um our first action item under community development items. This is item A, resolution 2026-00005, authorization for the approval to adopt the Smyrna downtown redevelopment plan 2026 and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all related documents. I'll turn this over to Mr. Lindley for a motion.

Well, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh, it's sort of a a monumental night, I think, for for our great city is one of the first major steps to a new uh a new era and a new age. As we've said many times over the last several years, this was a unique opportunity to set the course for an enormous expansion of our downtown. And to that end, we have a a concept that will set the course, I believe, for the next 50 to 100 years. So, uh a moment truly uh for for history hopefully and hopefully developers will continue to call uh call Andrea and the team. um has been noted uh but I think it it is worth stating again as re is we move into the motion process but over the last year Smyrna has engaged uh quite frankly like it never has before with over 17,000 residents engaging in public comment. It is indeed historic and Smyrna's residents have spoken and their voices have been heard and the uh the plan uh and the concept reflect that. Uh and to to those of you uh in to here tonight that were part of the process, thank you. And uh a huge thank you to the 17,000 residents uh who who stepped up and were part of the process and really guided this effort. Um as with many recent projects, the concept reflects public engagement. And to uh thank you to Mike Mitchell, uh one of our ambassadors, he he hit it on the head. Uh this uh unlike any other project in uh recent Smyrna history really was driven solely by public engagement. Uh there were no parameters placed on it uh other than it would be redeveloped. Uh so to that end a a great concept has been derived directly by uh our residents and I think as a government uh I know I'm proud of it and I suspect all of uh all of the members before you are.

A huge thank you to Andrea Worthy uh and her team and to Jennifer Bennett uh for for their tireless work and to our entire city staff. Uh we as a city have much to be proud of with the outcome of this concept before us tonight and uh again I hope it is the the first of many big newsworthy items uh on this issue. Thank you to MKSK and their team. Uh it has been a great uh working partnership. Uh and a huge thanks to Luis Calvo. Uh I think he thinks his work here may be done, but uh we'll see about that. Uh Louise, your leadership has been much appreciated. Uh to the to the to the next two groups uh that I wanted to recognize, a huge thank you to the downtown redevelopment committee. Uh the committee has worked very hard, been very generous with their time and energy, revisited many cities uh throughout Metro Atlanta. Uh some there's some irony. Some of the cities uh at one point about 30 years copied Smyrna and now it's come full circle where we're going back to look at some of their successes. Uh so a lot of what we learned has been incorporated uh in the final concept. Um and I I would like to ask uh any members of the uh the committee if you would please rise and be recognized for your your work and uh effort and time. Thank you all. I also want to thank the ambassadors is uh Mike Mitchell and I see see a number of them out there. We had a a truly a ground swell of folks that wanted to be part of this process. uh and like with all other parts of it, wanted to incorporate them uh in those efforts and they really helped drive energy uh at all of our city functions.

Uh and I know most of us were very pleasantly surprised at the very first meeting to walk into our large gym and see it largely full uh with folks that were excited about what we were talking about. And with that, I would like any of our ambassadors to please please rise and be recognized as well. I know Mike Mitchell, Toby, I know. There you go. Thank you all. And again, Mr. Mayor, I am uh excited about the uh the opportunity. Uh Council Member Welch and I were commenting uh three to five years takes uh takes us well into the future. uh and then of course uh the finished product uh hopefully will uh be before the city and uh sort of stand the test of time. I think certainly uh it's going to be hard for anybody to argue we did not listen to the residents of Smyrna. So very proud uh of where we are tonight and at the appropriate time I will motion do pass. Second. I think it's the appropriate time. We have a motion due pass second by Mr. Welch. All those in favor, please vote. Do we still have Miss Hines with us? Uh, yes. And I vote in the affirmative. Voting in the affirmative. Now, now it's like getting on 2, three in the morning in Milan, Italy. Thank you, Miss Hines. And that passes unanimously. That is Thank you all again for being here for this. I was going back and forth with with Scott just a minute ago and uh getting a little bit nostalgic because uh you know we we we wanted to six, seven years ago when I spoke to so many of you all you wanted was more people downtown, more energy, more restaurants, more retail and uh and so we did the green space and that's been a huge success and a ton of people are down there every day.

And then I got a phone call from Pastor Pennington who said, "Would you would you have lunch with me?" and we went had lunch in that back room of Atkins and he said, "You know, I think I think the church might be moving. Would y'all would y'all entertain uh talking about that?" And so in that back room of Atkins that you were in that room for many many of those for about 18 months, we talked about it and over just slowly uh worked on a deal and uh and the fact that we're here now uh with this plan in front of us is u it's it's pretty unbelievable. So I'm really excited what's ahead for our city. And um when we're talking about those discussions uh that those developers have been having with us, y'all wouldn't believe, I'm not going to say it publicly because then if it doesn't happen, well then you're going to come get me. But there are some really good restaurants that you all know uh that are um that are excited about the potential opportunity to come down to downtown Smyrna. And I'm excited about that, too. So, thank you all again for all of your hard work. And thank you, Mr. Lindley, for your dedication to this.

All right. And this is the part. This is the part say if you were here for the downtown, we got a little more business and you don't have to stay. And we're not going to think you're rude if you go back to your families. So, uh, thank you all for being here. And it doesn't look like there was a lot of people here for the rest of the agenda, but that's okay. That's all right. Yeah, Travis. Travis is even taking off with y'all. We'll give him a minute to come back. I'll go ahead and start reading this because it'll take a minute for him to get back. Anyway, under formal business, we don't have any privilege, license, or show cause hearings tonight. Under formal business, item A uh is authorization for the approval of an agreement with Connect and Go uh out of

Montreal attraction ticketing for an initial cost of $6,500 for deployment and training and an approximate yearly cost amount of $25,000 to be paid from parks athletic and aquatics for the splash pad and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all related documents. Miss Christian, is there any additional background? Jess, this is going to be the system that's going to streamline all the operations. Can y'all hear me? Is that better? Sorry, wasn't close enough. Sorry. This is going to be the software that's going to streamline all the operations for the splash pad and the future Talison pool and it's going to provide um inventory management and rentals and ticketing uh for both of those locations. Any discussion or questions from council? One simple question is this set up for both installations. It's going to be um set up initially for the splash pad and then we're going to use what we learned from that to do the TS and pool. This is for the price right now is just for the splash pad. Yes. And just as a reminder, the splash pad opens this spring and then the aquatics is May of next year. 27. Okay. Any discussion? Any more questions? Mr. Bickens. Anything? Good. All right. I'll entertain a motion. Move to pass by Mr. Lindley. Do I have a second by Mr. Oglesby? All those in favor, please vote. Miss Hines, how do you vote? I vote in the affirmative. Okay. From Milan, Italy. You know, we've had we got Milan, Italy, we've had Antarctica, and China. Uh that these dedicated members have called in from all over the world. Did everybody vote?