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 3 of 5 Downtown Surface Lot: • Original contractor hit a spring and cannot finish • Total of 44 parking spots • Should be completed by July Castelaw Site Purchase: • Zoned for high density, LOI, general fund may fund its purchase rather than bonding • Walton has a master plan for that site, three weeks to a month for appraisal • Future recreation use • They wanted to have senior living in the back with city use in front IGO Land Purchase: • Approved a 290-unit apartment – Worthing • Funded from parking deck line item • LOI with Worthing, placeholder for future city facility Downtown Bathroom/Playground: • Part of the Splash Pad with the reflecting pool was a design disaster • Bathroom will go where the train park used to be • Delay on the playground equipment • Hoping everything will be done in July • Bids and plans took longer than expected Street Resurfacing: • 2022 SPLOST overages will go toward this = $10M • $20M can go toward bond debt Bridge over Cobb Parkway • $3.3M city portion • Partnership with Cumberland CID • Attempting to get funds from ARC and other entities Mayor Norton explained that these projects were discussed for a couple hours earlier. The overarching theme of that discussion was how the story is being communicated internally and externally. Communication was the focus – signage, website, updates, etc. Councilmember Lindley said he would like to see a Coming Soon button on the website for updates of the city projects. Russell Martin, Community Development Director • Staff worked together as a team to put together prior to the last retreat a strategy for the delivery process for city projects (workflow), and it felt like it was not well accepted. • Councilmember Lindley complimented Community Development staff for their good working relationships with developers • Staff tries to work with developers to make it more accommodating to come into the city as long as state and local laws are followed