Meeting discussionsStart with a topic.

city clerk to post the post in the Marietta daily journal for publication citywide. Any discussion? I have a motion and a second. Everyone, please vote.

Mr. Mayor, I vote yes.

Item C, approval of 2026 city holidays. No, just note procedural vote. There's 12 holidays and that's uh consistent with the previous years. Any discussion? I have a motion and a second. Motion to approve. Everyone, please vote. Mr. Mayor, I vote yes.

Item D, approval of ordinance for the author authorization to amend the Smyrna code of ordinances chapter 86 solid

waste as well as the yard waste subsection and outline subsections of the ordinance identified to be effective November 1st, 2025 and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all documents. Mr. Jones, any background, please? Mayor August, let's see. This is a request based on the need for public works to clean up some outdated sections of the solid waste ordinances and modify the yard waste ordinance subsection and to get fees and requirements more in line with surrounding jurisdictions and to achieve a practical feasibility to be able to meet the citizens expectations on on that pickup. Uh, public works has reviewed this. I've reviewed it and we recommend approval of the ordinance change. Any discussion? I have a motion and a second. Second What is it about 4 am over there? I vote. Yes. Sorry. Authorization

to approve Georgia Powers request request to install new power service for 945 to 969 Windy Hill Road for the new

bridge lightning for the newly installed underpass and authorize the mayor to sign and execute all documents. Mr. Jones, any background, please? Sure. So, u as you read that this this lighting will serve the newly constructed bridges along the Windy Hill Road corridor. Um Georgia Power has uh they proposed to put it along the the edge of the rideway requiring an easement. We've worked with them to move this back within the rideway and this action will accommodate that request. Any discussion? I have a motion and a second. Um, I'll move to approve item 9E. Mr. Mayor, I vote yes.

Item A, approval of Mr. Jones, please read the consent agenda for council approval. whenever you're ready. He moves faster than you do, mayor. So, we have eight items on the consent agenda. Um, the first three items on the consent agenda are approval of uh meeting minutes. Uh the first one on the agenda is approval of committee hold minutes from October 2nd, the October 6 pre-counsel meeting minutes, the October 6 mayor and council meeting minutes. The fourth item is installation no parking signs along portions of Lexington Trace Drive and Patel Place. Item E is an authorization to add a road closure for the um College Football Saturdays for the existing dates that have already occurred as well as those going forward. Item F is approval to use council chambers for Whitfield Park annual homeowner association meeting. An approval under item G to use council chambers for Laurel Hill Laurel Hill community annual meeting on Wednesday, January 28th. And finally, the approval for the closing of streets for the Smyrna Parks and Recreation Home for the Holidays event. I have a motion and a second. Everyone, please vote. Mr. Mayor, I'll give a hand for Mayor Bini. Here, we're now to the citizen participation uh portion of our meeting. We have a couple of people signed up for public comment. Miss Rebecca Johnson, who I believe was here earlier and spoke. Um, James McKay, 6212, Pine View Lane. I invite you up now to This is the public comment. Whoever would like to speak, uh, come on. You'll just come up and state your name and address for the record, please. Thank you for being here. My name is Cody Hugley and I live at 1641 Flint River Place, Smyrna, Georgia. Um, first of all, I want to say good evening, mayor and council and city staff. I'm here on behalf of my neighborhood, which continues to be neglected despite repeated concerns.

Some of the things we're dealing with down in the Riverview area is trash and durables, uncontrolled speeding, no speed bumps on the Smyrna Smyrna owned streets, no traffic coming, poor street lighting, industrial activity next to homes, minimal or no response from city staff. So I work in municipal government also. I have worked at two cities, city of Norcross and city of South Fton. at the city of Sperna. I worked as a county manager at the city of South Fulton as the revenue manager. I know from working in city government, we have to respond back to our citizens. A lot of times when you email the people here at the city of Smyrna, they do not respond back. They pick and choose who they want to respond to. So, I'm just asking all of my neighbors that are watching to stay engaged. I'm asking if they see something that they don't like to speak up about it. Um, we're tired of being treated neglected in our neighborhood. We feel like we are the black sheep of Smyrna. And this is from not only me speaking this from my own experience, but other neighbors in my neighborhood. I appreciate you being here. I will I will take issue what you said with what you said that we pick and choose who we respond to. And I'll tell you, we have one of the best staffs anywhere. So, I'm not sure who you've reached out to. I haven't gotten any emails uh personally. I sent plenty of emails. I can forward them to you. Please do. I I don't remember getting any email. If if if I get an email from a constituent, you better believe I respond to him. This is in Ward 7. Um he responds back. I'm not talking about the council person. He responds back. Okay.

Well, he's the point of contact for I mean, he's the point of contact for what you're trying to get done or what your what your concerns are, right? So if you are working with him on solutions and you're working with staff, we want to get whatever this whatever the problems are taken care of. So talk about what your issues are other than what you've out I mean is there is there other things that you're concerned about? Um yes, we're the planning and zoning the zoning in our area. We're zone residential then they had something coming up um what is it industrial then we had something coming up mixed use. We have an issue with that. We have an issue with traffic coming. We have an issue with trash in the neighborhood. We have an issue with um poor lighting in the neighborhood. So I think I think on the traffic cal and the poor lighting I think there's a lot that we can do. I think that that area was industrial when it was annexed into Smyrna. And so you you have an industrial and residential mix over there that has been present since that became part of Smyrna. So we're working on those issues. I don't know if you want to speak to what you've been able to accomplish or who you're working with on staff, but I I do know that we are responsive and we take care of the issues that come up from our citizens. So, please explain where we are with this issue. Yeah. So, good to see you here today uh expressing your concerns. I always encourage our uh neighbors to come to city hall and come to our council meetings and speak up. Now, with that being said, uh I do also take issue with uh the statement of city staff not being responsive.

Uh in fact, I'm on most of those emails, if not all of them, and they respond when it's a issue that requires a city staff member to respond to. If it's a HOA issue, the HOA needs to respond, not city. Uh because that's not in our jurisdiction. All right. If there are code violations, you mentioned code violations. Obviously, we're working on that. You know that everything's been documented. I encourage everyone to use the 311 app to keep documentation on that. When you use that for these issues, it goes directly to that particular department and they take care of it from there. And I get the email so then I can track it. In reference to industrial, I think you're now who were you speaking on far as upcoming industrial stuff you mentioned? Um the planning and zoning um in reference to arrow waste. So a waste is there already. Yes. So that that particular piece of land is it's zone heavy industrial. So they are currently trying to get a fuel tank I believe or some type of tank put in there above ground. And that's going through the process. There is a process for these things. And obviously showing up for the zoning meetings and expressing your concerns, that's how we that's how you have a voice, right? Right. We're It hasn't come to us yet. So there's nothing for us to really discuss on that currently. That makes sense. I wasn't trying to discuss that tonight. I was just coming with my issues with the city. And so that's why some of my neighbors that are here today, they have some issues with the city. Also, I don't want y'all to ever feel like you're not being listened to or heard or seen or I mean, this this council and our staff, we we have the best constituent service in my view anywhere.

And I know your experience may not have been that, but I'd like to get uh our city administrator, Mike Jones, involved with y'all and what y'all are doing directly if you if you haven't been. Mike just joined us in June. um to address. I've been trying to email Mike. I keep getting um kickbacks from the emails. So, yes, I have been trying. Let's make sure we got the right address. He's not M. Jones, it's ML Jones. So, so that might be the problem right there. But, um we have open lines. Our cell phones are all on the websites and social media and all that kind of stuff. So, call me too and let's let's talk about your issues and let's let's get these resolved if we can. Um, but don't don't ever feel like we're ignor that strikes a nerve with me because that's not how we'd conduct business. Right. That's how I feel too because I can show you the emails where I email the community services director. He responds when he wants to respond. It might be a week. He may not respond, you know. So, so if I if I could, Mr. Mayor, Co Cody, you and I have had these conversations before and your emails, we see those emails. Everyone sees them. I'm I'm copied on every email. So I know absolutely he's sending emails, but if you want to really get something done quickly, please utilize the tools that city has given. 311. Yes, I utilize that. Believe me, I utilize it. And what happens? They close it. No, you I can show it to you. I can show you what you spoke on trash. 301 was used for trash. The dog poop or whatever was going on at that park that was taken care of. There was 311 requests.