Mayor & Council Retreat - Lanier Islands — Minutes
Open official source ↗ · Source page 4
January 09, 2025 12:00 PM City of Smyrna Mayor and Council Meeting Lanier Islands Legacy Lodge & Conference Center 7000 Lanie Islands Pkwy Page 4 of 5 Mayor Norton asked council members to think about their wish list items for 2028 SPLOST. Scott Cochran, City Attorney, spoke about the billboard case. The agreed concept is that they will lease a space from the city near the Battery, then they share the revenue which will go toward the arts program. It will be approximately $20-30K/year. Mayor Pro Tem Tim Gould • Traffic Calming Committee – would like to include sidewalks as part of the discussion Councilmember Latonia P Hines • Rose Garden: pavilion has ADA issues – cannot reach the playground safely • Working on the historic preservation of the three churches • Village Parkway – traffic calming committee measures implemented? When? • Historic flooding and preferred contractors – communicating that information out to residents and business owners Councilmember Charles Welch • SPLOST collections may be over the anticipated budget • Wants a workup of a financial timeline of when those funds come in so as to potentially avoid bond issues • Does feels that bond issues three years in a row does not reflect positively upon the city • Community Center – entering the back entrance reveals worn and dirty bricks – he would like pressure washing to be done • Trash cans Councilmember Rickey N. Oglesby, Jr. • There are so many projects, but it seems that there are so many issues that delay projects significantly • Would like to consider using project managers other than Croy because they may have too many – Kristin Robinson explained that they do have a list of other groups that could offer management outside of Croy • Councilmember Welch mentioned that institutional knowledge is very important • Met with Mayor of Mableton – it is clear there are issues with Smyrna and Mableton boundaries • Would like to see signage, banners, flags, etc. to signify being in Smyrna (vs Mableton), especially in Ward 7 because they have pride being a Smyrna resident • Juneteenth Festival – spoke about sponsorship opportunities, a committee of citizens in the area, and Jodi Mills’ great contribution to coordinating things • Many people and businesses have approached him expressing they want to be a part of the Juneteenth event – please direct those inquiries to Jodi Mills • Discussion took place on how sponsorship funds come into the city, how they are allocated, etc. – specific events sponsorships are for the event only while overarching sponsorships can be moved into the events fund • He highlighted the vendors and activities: kid zone with an education component, Mac’s – Bourbon tasting, Alton Walker – MC and comedian, female DJ, outdoor dance floor, festival foods, art mural with public participants • Mentioned needing more public safety presence in Ward 7 • The Beltline is officially connected to the Silver Comet Trail – wants to be proactive rather than reactive • There is a perception that the turf fields are not to be used by Smyrna residents and that only the soccer groups have access to those fields – the only groups that can reserve those fields seem to only be the soccer groups