Mayor & Council Retreat - Lanier Islands - Combined Session — Minutes
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January 09, 2025 12:00 PM City of Smyrna Mayor and Council Meeting Lanier Islands Legacy Lodge & Conference Center 7000 Lanier Islands Pkwy Page 4 of 5 • There is uncertainty when it comes to Mayor and Council because there is no sense of what exactly Mayor and Council want • Mayor Norton suggested maybe Council and Community Development sit down together to discuss the path forward • Andrea Worthy, Economic Development Director, noted that she learned at a recent conference that retail coming into cities are the four C’s – chicken, car washes, coffee shops, and childcare Keith Zgonc, Police Chief • Internal survey – 40 responses of sworn officers – many excited about embracing technology, but many are concerned about their fleet of older Crown Vics • Staff levels have improved over the past two years– effective Monday, the department is only four people short • Target number of employees is 87 – some have left and then come back • Two people are in DUI activities – DUI arrests have picked up which increased jail numbers • What has helped with staffing? Culture/environment, pay/compensation, economy • Not a significant increase in applicants, but there is a better caliber of applicant – military, right out of college, etc. • Smyrna is staying competitive with salary • The department is authorized for 95, but because of all the changes in the city, the department is not as busy with calls of service compared to five or six years ago Brian Marcos, Fire Chief • Fire Department is currently at 88 staff • It is highly competitive to retain firefighters – able to keep them because of the reputation and culture • More competitive pay, more responsibilities, more opportunities – the more variety of incentives (tuition reimbursement, proficiency pay, sellbacks, etc.), the better situated we are to retain employees • Create levels of ownership at every level • An anonymous survey resulted in 87% saying they would highly recommend someone work for the Smyrna Fire Department • Facility improvements were just completed, all on budget, all on time • Fleet/apparatus lag time is crushing – current schedule for replacement does not correspond with lag time • EMS – demand for services has increased – state regulatory burden has intensified • City events are getting bigger and bigger – need to lay groundwork for safety policies to avoid dangerous occurrences Dat Luu, IT Director • Consolidated staff computers and reduced the number of subscriptions • Just purchased 200 computers to meet an October 14, 2025 deadline • Just put out an RFP for five-year cybersecurity – 40 proposals came in – they will evaluate and assess to determine potential policy changes, funding necessities, etc. • Had the first penetration test – those issues presented have not been fixed yet • There may be a request in the future for cybersecurity in-house staff • Still trying to hire a Network and Server Engineer • Cameras – Community Center has issues with their old cameras – but these will probably be the next big issue in the future • Consolidate multiple door lock systems – it takes money to change the systems out, so this is moving forward but slowly