Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the Cab County Board of Commissioners Committee of the Whole meeting today is February 17th.

I am presiding officer Shakira Johnson, also your District 4 Commissioner.

Um, before we get into the agenda too far, I did want to take a couple times a couple moments to make a couple announcements.

We'll start with a happy announcement.

Today is Commissioner Nicole Messiah's birthday.

Thank you.

Happy birthday.

Thank you.

And it's so fun to spend your birthday during a board of commissioners' meetings.

Oh, yeah.

Because my birthday is March 10th, and we will be right here on my birthday as well.

So I feel you on that.

There you go.

Um, and then we do have uh a little less happy news to uh announce today.

We wanted to take the time to send prayers to the leak family for the loss of their son recently, and also we wanted to take a moment of silence for the passing of Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Heard of that news first thing this morning when we woke up.

He is a pillar in our community, of course, and I think it's very appropriate in the middle of Black History Month to honor him and his life and legacy and what he has meant to all of us.

So if we could just bow our heads for a moment of silence.

Thank you for that.

Our prayers go out to the the Jackson family, and again, of course, to the Leak family as well.

So now we will get into the um agenda, and again, we're doing a little different from what we did last year.

We will have our committee reports, our agenda setting, and then our presentations.

So uh are we ready for committee reports, Commissioner Patrick.

Uh yes, uh, Madam Presiding Officer, thank you, and good morning.

Um, Commissioner Masai.

21 forever.

There you go.

Um, with that said, I'm Commissioner Robert Patrick and the current chair of public works and infrastructure.

Uh we had about nine items at our last meeting.

And uh of those items, you know, oftentimes we handle some large projects for water and sewer and pro approved about 50 million dollars worth of sewer rehabilitation work.

But I also want to note that we get into some smaller details uh but that are still important to the community.

So uh Northwoods Historic District uh had asked for some sign toppers.

Of course, this is the unincorporated portion.

Uh, they had asked for some sign toppers to help identify their historic neighborhood, and we were happy to approve that.

Um, we also approved um about 20 million dollars for ElMIG, which is local maintenance and improvement grants program.

Uh, for those of you who don't always pay attention, that means we're getting about 20 million dollars more worth of roads paved in our county, and I believe that'll be happening over this year and next year.

Um, as always, public works and infrastructure is the greatest show on earth, and so I invite you to join us today at 3:30.

Madam Chair, thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Patrick.

Um, Commissioner Bolton.

Thank you, madam presiding officer.

Again, I am Ladina Bolton, your Super District 7 Commissioner.

I am also the chair of employee relations and public safety.

Our last meeting for ERPS was February 3rd.

On that committee serving with me is both Commissioner Johnson and Commissioner Shakira Johnson.

Um, attending that meeting with us was Commissioner Masaya and Commissioner Patrick.

Of course, we did go ahead and approve the minutes from January 20th, 2026.

We had a pretty light agenda.

We looked at a couple of new items, one under fire rescue item 2026 0210.

We approved that item, and this was for FY26 grant award.

This was for EMS trauma-related equipment with the Georgia Trauma Commission.

In addition with DECAP Emergency Management Agency or DEMA, this item 20260256 was also approved.

And this was a contract for a new alert solution or a new alert system called RAVE, RAVE.

This is a five-year agreement so that citizens can be alerted and notified during critical events or situations.

And then the last item that we discussed came out of District 7 and District 5.

We worked in partnership to establish a regulatory oversight for blasting.

I know this is especially important to folks in the Stone Crest area.

Currently, we have a whole lot of development going there, but this was control blasting and safety ordinance to promote public safety, environmental protection, and community stability.

So that item was deferred.

We still have a bit more discussion on that, but we look forward to passing that in the coming weeks.

And with that, I yield back.

Thank you, ma'am.

Commissioner Messiah for PECS, if you are ready.

Thank you so much, Madam PO.

I appreciate it.

Again, Nicole Masaya have the distinct honor and pleasure serving as the chair of PECS on the committee, along with is Commissioner Teterry from Super District 6 and Commissioner Michelle Longspears from District 2.

And we had 10 items to be approved, which they were approved, and I'm happy to report that we actually got through our entire agenda.

And I joked, but apparently it was serious that we were going to be here till 7 o'clock if we need be.

And I heard that some folks were here, you know, uh with BAB until 7 o'clock, 7 30.

So I didn't disappoint in in that arena.

Um but we also heard from Dr.

Ferguson, which is our chief housing officer who uh presented an amazing plan as it relates to uh some uh innovative things that we'll be doing in DeCap County to um address um our ongoing uh challenges when it comes to housing and just being forward thinking to get those things accomplished.

We also um through our agenda approved out of committee a um a CIP to Georgia State University called Reimagining the the Stone Mountain Trail as a corridor, which is an art project that was spearheaded by Commissioner Ted Terry, and so pretty exhaustive agenda and went phenomenally, and I look forward to seeing you all again in next um PECS meeting.

With that, I yield back to you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, ma'am.

Um Commissioner Terry for FAT.

Yes, thank you, Madam Presiding Officer.

Uh we have two committee reports uh from the special call meeting on the ninth and then the the regular meeting on the 10th.

Um so the special call meeting on the 9th was focused on the diversion center um update uh study.

Uh this was being conducted by the sheriff's office and Claritel, uh Mr.

Kareem Martin, director of um of the health um services at the jail, presented for about 25 minutes, and I think everyone has the slides from that.

Uh but if not, um please please uh we'll make sure we share those with everyone.

Um the top line takeaway from the presentation, just to keep it short, is that the um the jail believes that on annual there's approximately anywhere between 700 and 800 individuals that are um that have been booked into the DeCab County jail for what's called criminal trespass, um, but have no other charge uh on their record and um have a mental health diagnosis.

And so the concern with that statistic is in essence those individuals are being arrested and jailed because they're homeless.

Um so that in and of itself is a concern uh because we've been talking a lot up here and in the committees and through resolutions about the goal of this county to not arrest individuals that are homeless.

We do not want to criminalize homelessness, but in fact it is happening in DeCap County.

Um but the the thing that's most uh concerning that is also an opportunity for us to talk through is the fact that that jail population uh represents about about 29 million dollars in housing costs every year.

If those individuals were moved into a pre-arrest diversion center, uh looking at all of the potential reimbursement rates through Medicare Medicaid, other housing costs outside philanthropic uh support for medication, the cost would be about 7.4 million dollars annually.

So the delta between housing individuals at the jail and paying the full freight for every single thing that has to be taken care of with that population and the cost to spend it to spend that same uh capacity on the diversion center is approximately 22 million dollars.

So it just so happens that we are considering a tax increase that would be a 21 million dollar tax increase annually.

Um so the thing that I want us to focus on, and that we'll be focusing on really the next couple of weeks and also throughout this year is how can we uh address efficiencies and cost savings within DeCap County and certainly just with the Fab Committee we'll just we'll focus on the the departments uh that we have jurisdiction over.

Okay, and then real quickly on the the 10th meeting.

We had budget presentations mainly.

I'll present their budget requests, and so um I think we have a report back on all the details of what they've provided.

They had emailed the commissioners um details of what they're asking for, and then today we will um hear the rest of the constitutional officers and their budget requests.

Um sorry, tomorrow at the special call at meeting.

Thank you.

Yield back.

Thank you.

Um Commissioner Davis Johnson.

Thank you, madam presiding officer.

Good morning.

I'm Marita Davis Johnson, and I chair the county operations committee, also known as the apps committee.

My colleagues who sat on that committee with me, uh Commissioner Robert Patrick and Commissioner Ladina Boat.

The ops committee met on Tuesday, February 3rd, where committee members was drawn by Commissioners Ted Terry and Commissioner Michelle Own Spears.

During that meeting, we approved the uh meeting members for the minutes for the January the 20th UPS meeting and the January the 20 second special call ups meeting.

There were six items on the agenda, with one of them being previously heard.

Previously heard item was a resolution of the government authority of the CAP county to establish a selection process for county representing voting delegates.

It was recommended for approval of the law substituted for receipt of additional information.

There were five new agenda items.

One was a resolution to explore temporary moratorium on hangar development at the CAP Peace Three Airport.

It was recommended withdrawal due to the board's elites to regulate night flights.

Item 26028 resolution of the BAC BLC referring the county's authorization to seek recovery calls of impoundment and care for court held uh dolls and to create a court hail dog coordinated position.

Uh we are expecting a substitute to correct the language in the resolution.

The item was recommended for deferral and to return back to ops.

Uh DeCAP uh innovation and technology item uh 25 1661 was a change order to a contract.

Um 25 uh 1831 uh and 26010 was not heard during the committee meeting due to time.

The apps committee uh met again for a special call meeting on Friday February the uh 12th for discussion of the charter review and standing procedure rules.

Committee members was drawn by commissioner Ted Terry and virtually by Commissioner Nicole Messiah.

The apps committee uh will meet again this afternoon at 1 p.m.

And be sure to turn in live or on DC TV.

And with that, uh I yield back, Madam Presiding Office.

Thank you, ma'am.

And I will note that Commissioner Long Spears will not be joining us today.

Um and another note um as we're getting ready to set the agenda, we are setting the agenda for February 26th.

We will all be in Washington, most of us I think will or all will be in Washington DC for a NACO conference, and we are have moved our normal Tuesday meeting to Thursday, February 26th.

So please note that change.

So if we can start our agenda setting, COO Williams.

Thank you, Madam Presiding Officer.

I'd like to begin the proposed review of the proposed executive agenda for February 26th.

Um the first item, uh 0280, application of the director, and this is a public hearing item, application of the director of planning and sustainability to consider and review a resolution on whether to extend a moratorium on the acceptance of applications and issuance of certificates, permits, or licenses relating to the commercial sale and distribution of sexual devices in DeCab County.

Okay, public hearing items.

The next for watershed management.

Uh, this is a notice of partial abandonment and water and sewer easement.

0291.

And these are all public hearing as well.

Yes, and then you go to 0332, uh 333, 334, and 335 are all similar.

Next under proposed preliminary items for the airport, item 030, termination of standard T Hangar Space Lease Agreement with Theodore Williams, no cost of the county.

Typically that's consent.

Yes, ma'am.

Under Chief Executive Office, uh 0396, uh DeCab County Day Center Implementation Plan for DeCAB citizens experiencing homelessness.

This would be a PECS item.

Yes.

Next item is 0321.

Um this is uh police services, K9 retirement, official retirement of K9 Argo to his handler.

This would be consent or ERPS, whatever you approve for, Madam Chair.

We can do consent.

Okay.

Next item under public safety is uh 0320 grant year 2023 Urban Area Security Initiative, UASC grants and amount not to exceed 382,6061 cents.

Yes, sir.

Next item 0322 amend the performance period of grant year 2022 urban area security initiative UASI grant in the amount not to exceed 10,073 24 cents.

ERPS ERPS as well.

Next we have our purchasing and contracting items, beginning with ERPS.

Are you good with your items?

Good.

Three items for ERPS.

Purpose is good.

Two items for Fab.

Do we know how urgent those items are?

Because I think we're looking at um canceling the FAB meeting on the 26th, so it might be like three weeks, I think, before we would pick this back up again.

Unless we did at the special call meeting.

I think we're going to be okay on 0258 prosecutor case.

Okay, let's just go ahead and let's just add it to the next special call and then we'll just if we have time, we'll try to get to it in the next two.

Next special call tomorrow.

Um on the 25th.

Yeah, let's do the 25th.

So safe.

That still gets us before the regular meeting.

Yeah, okay.

Um PD about it's good.

And did we do PECS?

PEX is good.

Okay.

PWI is good.

We're good.

The last item under work source is item 0318, acceptance of federal workforce innovation and opportunity act.

We owe you additional funds for funds request for dislocated worker, fiscal year 2026 from the technical college system of Georgia for 100,000.

That typically PECS.

Yes.

PECS.

Okay.

I have no further items.

I have two walk-ons when it's appropriate, madam presiding officer.

Yes.

Commissioners, do you have any wrong?

Okay.

See none from the commissioners.

I know I think there are two from administration.

Yes, ma'am.

That are time sensitive.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes.

Okay.

Yes.

And the first item uh would be an ERPS item.

This is addition to fleet police services.

This is uh to consider approving the request to add 16 police Tahoe vehicles to the DeCab County fleet in an amount not to exceed $994,708.

And this is use of SPLOST 1 funds.

Um so this would typically be in ERPS.

And can you speak on the urgency of it, please?

Yes, in order to secure the vehicles.

I think the company has them holding, and either we can pursue purchasing them or someone else will.

So understood.

Thank you.

The next item, uh, this is uh on behalf of the board of commissioners, and this is an item to appoint Go ahead.

We're having a question on the last one.

Go ahead.

Yes, yes, and this item is uh Board of Commissioners item.

Appoint the selected candidate as chief of staff and authorize the presiding officer to sign an employment agreement for the selected candidate on behalf of the board of commissioners in a form approved by the law department.

Thank you.

I have nothing further.

Thank you so much.

No other walk-ons.

If we can Miss McRaw is going to join us to do the review.

Good morning, Miss McCron.

Good morning, Commissioners.

Happy Tuesday.

Happy Tuesday.

Um appointments not requiring board action and for information only, Board of Commissioners, District 20351, appointment of Randy Rosa to the District 2 Community Council Board.

And Board of Commissioners District 60331.

Record the appointment of Shoshana Cohen Ben Yor to Post 6 of the CAP County's Women Com Women's Commission for at the Super District 6 appointee.

Under preliminary Board of Commissioners, 0319, approval of the February 17th Committee of the Whole Minutes, typically consent.

Typically consent.

Consent.

To amend agenda agenda item 0205 0367 dependent care reimbursement program pilot and add a form and correct Scribner's errors.

Yes, ma'am.

It was ops.

Let's ops for this one.

Okay.

So go over the changes.

Yes, ma'am.

Board of Commissioners District 2.

Allocate 20,000 from 2026 District 2 Reserve Appropriations to the Wild Nest Bird Rehab to support helpline public assistance project.

Consent.

The budget should be approved prior to this item, correct?

This will go to consent on yes.

This will go on a consent on uh February 26th.

0385 resolution of the governing authority to Cab County Georgia urging adoption of unhoused support and service plans establishing implementation expectations and accountability and other lawful purposes.

Okay.

0341 of resolution of DeCAP County Board of Commissioners requesting the administration and planning department to update the recommended recommended substitute for Text Amendment 2025 0972 regarding data center regulations.

So also PEX 0360 to appropriate amount not to exceed 30,000 to Bonnie Davis Counseling LLC to continue serving as the aging in place advisors for super district six office and lead the super district six aging in place initiative.

Consent the question is where fund is it coming from Commissioner Office funds.

Top of page 12 Board of Commissioners District 72 or 0352, an item to allocate an amount not to exceed 5,000 to District 7 reserved for appropriations contribution towards DeCAB Prono programming.

Consent.

Consent.

0354 and item to amend item 2026 0219 to revise an allocation funding source from ARP interest to ARP reserve for appropriation to the allocation of 30,000 for the youth programming through new birth baptism new birth ministry baptist church.

Did have a question on this one, Commissioner Bolton.

Are we gonna take out the ARP reserve and it's just from ARP interest?

It was ARP interest, but it shouldn't say to ARP reserve that extra ARP needs to be crossed out.

It should just be reserved for appropriation.

Okay.

Then I think we're good for consent.

Clerk to the board of commissioners and CEO.

Approved minutes of the Board of Commissioners meeting of February 10th, 2026.

Consent.

Finally 0349, approve of the minutes for the special called meeting of February 3rd, 2026.

Consent.

Now we are going to return to page one.

Items under public hearing.

The following items will be heard.

Public hearing 2026 0280.

2026 0291 2026 0332 2026 0333 2026 0334 2026 335.

Proposed preliminary items, one item under the airport for consent 2026 030.

2026 0291 2026 0332026 0333 2026 0334 2026 335 Proposed Preliminary Items one item under the airport for consent 2026 0300 under Chief Executive Office Item 0396 DeCeb County Day Center Implation for DeCeb County Citizens Experiencing Homelessness assigned to PICS Police Services 0321 slated for consent under public safety two items slated for zero for ERPS 0320 and 0322 purchasing and contracting the following items will be have been assigned to the ERPS committee 0183 0272 and 0284 for the Fab Committee two items have been slated 0258 and 0293 for the ops committee the following items have been assigned 0122 0131 0134 0179 0186 0188 0189 0193 0216 0242 0243 0292 and 0301 all for the ops committee under Persian contracting for PICs several items have been assigned 2025 1718 2026 0156 023 0306 0313 all assigned to the PECS committee for PWI 0129 and 0337 both assigned and finally one item under work source to cab 0318 assigned to the PECS committee we had two walk-ons from the administration for purchase of 16 vehicles for police and fleet services um to the ERPS committee and then the authorized appointment and employment agreement for Board of Commissioners Chief of Staff where we would like to hear that item um the full board preliminary yes preliminary alrighty and that is the recap for the uh February 26th agenda thank you so much thank you now we'll have our presentation on the mobile market we have Miss Kasha from Ratasa as she makes her way to the front podium and I think there is a presentation that printed presentation that will be handed out and other stuff no thank you so much good morning thank you for being here with us good morning thank you for having me um yeah how do I okay click the green button green goes forward I think love it easy all right good morning um this is uh Mariah Freed she is part of our team and she'll be joining us do you want to see yeah she can stand or sit okay whatever she's all right um so I wanted to talk to y'all a little bit today about who we are so you understand what the mobile market is all about and why we do what we do uh so the name of the company is Rataza um I'm Kashi Segel founder and CEO and um if you can think back to a time 2020 um pandemic had happened and farmers were throwing out produce by the record tons of pounds there's a lot just being landfilled and I couldn't understand how perfectly edible nutritious nutrient dense the best food that we can possibly have for our communities was just getting thrown out you can see this the milk was being thrown out like down the drain and then we were also reporting in the news that people were lined up in record numbers at our food banks and so it didn't just match with me like we were throwing out this food and all these people needed food.

So Rataza was born as a way to prevent food from being thrown out supporting our local farmers and feeding our hungry supporting our families.

So that's really what we do as an organization.

So we are um a social enterprise and we do a lot of things we have the business side of our business and we have the mission driven community impact side of our business so think of us as air traffic control for resources around the local food ecosystem.

So we get dollars to farmers, fresh, healthy, affordable food to people who are hungry.

We get and we make it easier for businesses to buy that local food.

And we are helping the planet in the process by making sure we're not dumping all this stuff.

So it's like a win-win-win-win all the way around, and we hope that it's making more of an impact than just a one-for-one impact.

So I just wanted to highlight for you what the business looks like so you understand who we are.

So the top two boxes, wholesale and corporate wellness, that's how we sell to our businesses.

The bottom two are really our consulting services and how we bring people to food through business experiences.

That middle one is where the mobile market sits.

It is our direct to community programming.

It is tied into literally everything we do.

What why we have the business side is so that we can really make impact through our community programs.

Today we're going to focus more on our community programs.

So we call that Rataza RX, which is really our prescription for community, our direct to community programming.

So we want to make sure that this fresh, healthy, locally grown food is getting to our communities.

This is the best food that they can possibly eat.

So the food you're getting at the grocery store, that cucumber you're getting at the grocery store is not as nutrient-dense as the cucumber you can eat that's been harvested three days ago, which is what we have on the mobile market and what we bring into communities when we go take produce to communities.

So it's the best food you can get.

So we think these community markets that we create act as a couple of things.

They're third spaces.

We really care that people feel welcome at these spaces.

We are partnered with community organizations to make sure that we're not doing things to the community, we're doing things hand in hand.

We want to make sure that we don't understand the community as well as y'all do, right?

You understand Decau County better than us.

We've got to work hand in hand.

So we do that everywhere.

We always make sure that we've got affordable options, discounts, we take SNAP and EBT to make sure that we can serve a variety of customers, so we make that food really cheap.

And at these markets, it's not just about having the food.

We provide recipes, we do cooking demos.

We want to make sure people understand how to use this food.

Sometimes we have things that are basics, you know, carrots and potatoes.

But something sometimes we have things like watermelon radishes.

The other day we had watermelon radishes, and people were like, So you got watermelons?

And we were like, not yet, these are watermelon radishes.

And so we had to walk them through how you use that.

And people were really interested and intrigued to understand what that looks like.

And because costs are low, they can experiment, which is awesome.

That's what we want people to do.

And these are some of our partners that we work with across a lot of our markets.

So USDA funds a lot of our work.

Um, wholesome Wave Georgia enables our discounts.

So we um one discount I didn't mention for all dollars spent, all SNAP dollars spent on local produce, which is what we have, local produce, we take a 50% discount off the top of that basket.

So you might spend $10 worth of produce, go and pay with SNAP dollars for that local produce, it'll be five dollars.

And often people are so surprised, they add more, which is great, you know.

So okay, this is what the mobile market looks like.

It's a cute little sprinter van that we retrofitted, it's like the ice cream van, but for veggies, um, and we can get a lot of food into this vehicle.

Um we set up outside, it's a little cute little experience because we really feel like food access doesn't have to be undignified, it can be fun and beautiful and exciting and friendly and warm and all of those things.

Um a little bit about the DeCab Market, the DeCab Mobile Market Program.

On the right, you'll see the schedule.

So this is the flyer that we have that's gone out for the markets.

And you know, want to highlight a couple of things.

So we started this pilot, it's a three-month pilot that we started on November 10th.

And because of some snow days and some Monday, you know, Mondays being holidays, we will end on February 23rd.

We want to make sure we got all the Mondays and Fridays that y'all paid for.

So we will have all of uh we will go through February 23rd as the last day.

There are a couple things that have really amplified the success of this.

First of all, to the commissioners and your staff who have amplified the message, thank you.

This has been one of the most successful markets we've ever run.

People are pouring out.

I mean, I hate to say that people are lined up, but people are waiting for us when we get there because they know that we're going to be there week over week, and they really appreciate this resource.

Um, so it's been an overwhelming response.

Um we're at six locations spanning most districts.

We'll get to district one and two, hopefully.

Um because of the snap freezes, getting those community credits that so many of y'all funded.

Um like people cannot say enough about how helpful that has been, and we have some testimonials at the end of the presentation.

Um it has like moved people.

So you guys have really fed people, it's amazing.

Just some market highlights.

Um we have had 44, and this is through the 11th.

So we put this presentation together, we're still going, so some of these numbers will go up.

So we've had 44 market events so far.

Um 117 unique items at the market.

Talk about selection and ability to choose.

You know, this is different from just a food box.

People are actually getting to go choose for themselves what they want, it's low cost, and so they get to have this delightful shopping experience that still allows them to afford to buy locally sourced goods.

Uh, we work with just over 2600 neighbors.

We have um they have purchased about 8,400 pounds of local food.

Not only does that help them because it's nutrient dense and all of that, but it's also helping local farmers around Georgia and right around Atlanta.

So this is having a ripple effect in so many ways.

Um, and then as we translate those pounds of food, when we think about the servings of fresh foods and vegetables, you can see here it's quite a few servings, so quite a few meals.

We're really making sure people are eating healthy.

Um we are highlighting Georgia grown food.

Um prices are priced at or below places like Walmart.

Um we are far exceeding the nutritional value, right, and the quality that they can find in more conventional stores.

Um they get to choose, like we talked about, and we think all of this is about dignity, right?

We bring the fun atmosphere, we've got music playing, we know your name, we know your shopping for your mom, we know your kids' names, we have things for kids, also applesauce and things like that.

So we want to make sure we're mindful of who our customers are.

This is just a little selection for you on how much of a selection we have.

So lots of different apple varieties.

We had one that was called the Luda Crisp.

Theoretically not named after Lula, but um, I think it is.

Um, you know, lots of different types of items, and people got to try these items, which was really fun and exciting, and it was a great conversation with them.

Um, lots around education.

I'm sure you're not surprised to see this, but collards, we cannot keep collard stocked on the market.

I mean, we have we have tried buying more and more and more, and every time I mean Mariah can speak to it, we cannot keep collars in stock.

Um, cabbage, sweet potatoes, uh, but we also have shelf stable items that are locally produced or sourced from the South.

So peas and honey and peanut butter and um whole grains, so things that people can use to make an entire meal from.

So it's not just produce, but if you came and shopped with us, could you make dinner tonight?

And you could so talking a little bit about the stops and just how it spans the county.

So you can see that um there are a lot of stops in district three, and then spread between district six and seven in terms of the number of shoppers.

Um I think we have covered the district pretty well through the pilot.

Um obviously there is more to go, obviously, district one.

Um we did an event in Pleasant Dale Park, but we'd love to get there in some way.

Beauford Highway Connector, we'd love to be there in some way.

Um talking about the community credits.

This has been a very big component of the market.

Um 29,500 worth of credits were allocated by all of you.

Thank you so much.

Um we have given out just over 2600 credits so far, and we will use all the credits by the end of the market.

We're doing about a thousand credits uh market, a thousand dollars in credits a market.

Um so um we're on track to use all of those.

Yeah.

Um, and then that's translated into about 8,500 nutritious meals um thanks to the credit program.

So it's been really, really great.

Um, and I I just want to now share some feedback with you.

This is the trailer, by the way, that we have had to start towing because of all the back stock we need.

Usually we go out and that mobile market is enough.

We can support the shoppers at the market.

We have had such overwhelming turnout that we have had to start towing this trailer, um, which has been um fun in and of itself for our operators to figure out how to drive.

Um, but we have needed it for all the backstock and all the collards that we need to bring with us.

So um, let's see.

Will this play if I hit play?

Come on here to the center and getting corn.

Local programs.

And maybe some local honey and local peanut butter, which we can't get anywhere else.

And then to know about the home.

And I'm just waiting for this program, and I'll continue.

So this is Miss Annette, and she is at the Lou Walker Senior Center.

Um, okay, let's see.

This is Miss Trion.

Trion.

You know her.

He's definitely our community.

So it is definitely in there, grocery stores.

The other thing is one person is supposed to be just an appropriate.

It doesn't need to be any of the two dollars.

I still get a lot of things for $10 because prices are speaking to the pricing.

So we like hearing this from our customers.

There's lots of your reading.

We have a lot of technology and nothing.

So we're reading something.

Yeah, so I think you get one more.

Sorry.

Speaking to the pricing.

So we like hearing this from our customers.

So I think you get one more.

Sorry.

That's really awesome.

We couldn't have planned that one any better.

That's great.

Um, so I you know, it just goes to highlight um how positive of response this program has um been received, and um it's it's doing a lot of good.

So just wanted to share this with you today and say thank you for allowing us to help serve DeCap County.

Thank you.

Do you have any questions?

Yes, thank you so much, Commissioners.

You have questions?

You're good.

Commissioner Bolton.

Good morning.

Good morning.

But I was curious about the primary demographic that you guys usually see across all of the six locations, whether it's primarily young mothers with children, seniors, etc.

I'm gonna let Mariah take this.

Um thank you for your question and for allowing us to speak today.

Um right now, demographic information isn't something that we formally collect.

Um, of course, we could explore that in the future if that's information that would be valuable.

Um I would say anecdotally, we have a lot of um aging in place seniors, um, especially at uh the senior center on Candler Road.

We have a lot of residents who live on site and also come over during their lunchtime.

Um at the rec centers, it tends to be a mix of um younger parents, single parents, and then seniors as well.

Okay, so it kind of sounds like the folks who may patronize or do activities at those facilities are the primary users.

Um I'm asking that because my mind is wondering how do we get more folks who may be live or work in the area but not necessarily have activity at the locations to get them to come over and benefit from the program as well.

But we would love to brainstorm like it could be libraries, it could be apartment complexes, um, other places.

So yeah, and and if I may, very quickly, um, you know, we were curious how the traffic would continue as we kept staying out at the markets, and the markets have been increasingly getting busier the longer we've been operating.

And so word has been spreading organically, you know, both through the outreach that um your districts are all doing, but just the the feedback we've been getting is so positive.

People are telling their friends, people are telling their you know, family, and so we're continuing to get more people than we can serve at each stop currently.

Wonderful.

And along those lines, but um just another means to categorize.

Are you seeing uh significant amount of SNAP participants who come out?

Oh yeah.

Um right now the credits predominantly cover what folks are buying at the market.

Um and so the whether or not people are benefits, recipients isn't information we're collecting.

Okay.

And um, and the other thing is just reiterating I I see that DeCap County's logo is there, and that's wonderful, but for the credits, those do come out of our district fund.

So I think the district commissioners should be a part of the promotional materials that you distribute throughout because we share the materials as well, and of course, we can add our own logos, but it's nice for the community members to know that their commissioners are taking funds out of their budget, not putting it in the county's budget, but we're appropriating funds and and they should know that.

So that's it for me, and I yield back.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry, and then Commissioner Massai.

Thank you.

Um thank you for the presentation.

Um want to give a shout out to uh CEO Zach Williams for coming up with the fresh on deck program uh all those years ago, Zach.

Um first started on with the uh the bus, the fresh on deck bus, uh, an old an old school bus, which director Gordon has been keeping alive in the fleet operations garage.

Um and so I think um the main question for I think Zach is in terms of the market moving forward this year.

So this was sort of the pilot with Rataza um, you know, trying to sort of fill the gap when the fresh on deck program couldn't operate last year because of you know just not being able to find a driver.

Um and I do I do understand that the bus is operational and and can be kind of brought back online for you know continuing the program into the future.

But um, Zach, are there any conversations from the administration in terms of how the food and security program will uh grow this year and the different areas that we'll be investing in?

Right.

So yeah, it's your recall back in the fall.

We have brought forward some ideas on how to expand the uh dealing with food insecurity, and we still intend to bring forward some strategy.

Um we've partnered uh with Kashi.

We anticipate that we're those discussions we were uh certainly with Kashi, and we anticipate future expansion to involve uh Kashi as well as others.

So uh the idea is certainly um still at the forefront of our mind because food insecurity is not going anywhere.

Um we're definitely very supportive of this mobile um application and then there may be opportunities to expand that, including the use of fresh on deck bus.

Okay.

Um and then um Kashi, do you all have like any um estimates on and like kind of options for the board of commissioners and CEO to consider in terms of our budget priorities this year?

Yeah, we actually pulled some together um that I can share with everybody.

Okay.

Um but yeah, we have some thoughts on what pricing would look like to continue as is, and then potentially using a fresh on deck bus.

Um, lots of different options.

So I can share that now or later.

Yeah, if you have someone to pass out, that'd be great.

I'd love to look at it.

Um one thing while you're doing that, I did um remember we did work out within I think the commissioner credit um support the um I think we did uh chickens one market day um that were free also part of that were part of the not part of the credits, those were that's like the additional on top of the credits.

Okay.

We did chickens and yeah, okay.

So there is um opportunity, maybe I think that was like for Christmas time holiday time, I think.

We could also plan for Thanksgiving, uh, you know, or whenever, you know, do something festive.

Okay, yeah.

Okay, but the point is that um because you were talking about kind of just like you can provide the whole meals, um, but generally the market doesn't have meat, but there are options to sort of have special events where we can you can bulk purchase chickens or turkeys or whatever and provide that.

Honestly, we could start having proteins, dairy, eggs.

I mean, those are things that we can start stocking.

This was a pilot, so we wanted to see how it would go and what how it would function, and like I said, we can barely keep we have we have no space on that market for anything else, so we would need more refrigeration to do all the other things that we just mentioned, but we could do it.

Okay, gotcha.

Um I think eggs and dairy would go over real well.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think so.

Um one of the days at the Candler Road Senior Center um that was interesting when I was out there for about 30 minutes.

There were a lot of seniors who um basically said um, you know, I get transported to the senior center from my house, so they don't drive and they're relying on like MARTA mobility or our senior bands.

Yeah.

So there was um several seniors that basically were like, well, I'm already here doing the senior programming, so I can get my shopping done and not have to like worry about going out on another day.

So I thought that was a very interesting.

So I liked having them at the senior centers.

Yeah, um, but I think the nature of the mobile market is that you're flexible to go with other places.

Sure, yeah.

So if there were other sites that commissioners thought there would be a need, like even a school, for instance, or uh, you know, a special, like even like a special event like uh like the summer program or something, you have flexibility to kind of do different locations.

You know, just anywhere where it does best when you're going someplace people are already going to be.

It's hard to make this an additional stop because you don't just don't think about a mobile market, but when it's there and you're already there to your point about the seniors, they really make use of it.

Yeah.

Um and I do I do remember us talking about the pilot and the locations trying to be as close in proximity to the food deserts.

Um the side the cab had done a uh kind of a grocery store food desert study a few years ago, and so there we had sort of areas of the county that uh didn't have access to like a grocery store basically.

And so I know that that's probably why like the district locations were selected, but I do know that there were some in kind of district one, district two area that um you know were in that food desert you know category, and so would love for the opportunity for um if there's interest on the board and the administration to potentially add a third day to the program so we could try to hit um I think like you said, Buford Highway or Pleasantel Park area, which I mean I think have a lot of folks up there that um probably would uh benefit from the program.

Great, thank you.

Okay, Commissioner Masaya and then Commissioner Davis Johnson.

Thank you so much, uh Madam Pio.

Um thank you, Kashi and Sparea um for everything that you're doing.

Um thank you for speaking on the credits because I was wondering as how far the credits that each commissioner provided, how far that's going to you know address the needs in a community.

And I would like to say that I'm really thankful that in my district there's a lot of seniors also um there are food deserts as mentioned um and some challenges in terms of um grocery stores but fresh fruit and produce.

So to see in the number of locations, particularly in district three.

I'm just you know, overwhelmed as a commissioner.

Um in terms of adding things like eggs in theory, and you mentioned the collards, and I know that collars aren't cheap.

Um, and you know, the credits there and seniors loving um their their colors.

I'm seeing on average um that about a thousand dollars per uh market credits that are distributed, excuse me.

Uh do you have uh suggestion in terms of the amount that each commissioner could um sort of supplement to to help add in that those eggs and and dairy?

Um so that would you're asking like how much would it cost to pay for those?

Yes, in credits, um about how much additional energy.

I think we I don't want to give you a definitive number until we go back and actually do the math on it.

Okay, um, but we can definitely do that and get back to you.

That would be fantastic.

And we're in a constituents are in uh the audience that um Joe back there who uh overwhelmingly he's been advocating for uh making sure that we have uh a grocery store in um some of our underserved areas and his concern being fresh fruit and vegetables.

So there you go, the Cab County is on it with that.

I yield back to you, Madame P.O.

Thank you, Commissioner Davis Johnson.

Good morning, and thank you for being here.

Uh I've noticed at um at Kaza Permirente, they have the mobile market outside, as you I don't know if that's you all or someone else.

Is that it's not us.

Oh, okay.

And so they have the mobile market at many of their locations at the uh at their Kaiser centers, and I've been to some other health centers where they've had mobile markets.

So I want to ask have you all um looked at that and at the ones that I've been to at Casa, because that's my uh insure.

Uh they have like $10 bags, $15 bags, and up to $20 bags, and they give you a wide variety of items that you choose because in those bags for flat fees.

Do you all do that?

Or do they just uh select items that are priced separately and put in those bags?

So the way and the location and the question was the bags.

The way I understand that program to work is um they are specific events, they're not there on a regular basis.

So yeah.

Okay, they were there every week on Wednesdays at Kaza, and it may be at a specific time, like in the spring or the summer or something, but it's not at the certain events every Wednesday.

You could go to the one on Panola Road, okay, or the one in Southwood, and they were there.

So then maybe I'm not familiar with that specific program, but I do know that there's um other organizations that have partnered with Kaiser in specific ways.

You have to pre-register for those.

Um, so there's some other different ways of operating.

Um we can definitely do bags, um, you know, if that's something that's of interest.

Um we've done mixed boxes, we've done produce boxes that we've handed out along with the chickens.

So we can definitely create programming like that if that's something you'd be interested in.

Yeah, we're flexible.

Yeah, I was very um yeah, I was um very enthused about it because you could get you could choose what vegetables you would get for the bag that you well for any bag that you pay for.

Yeah, but it wasn't a specific item that they would put in the bag.

You would choose like two items or three items or four items.

Yes, okay.

So it sounds like um I didn't know that that was a mobile market, but um, yeah, so you can choose the size bag that you're looking for, and then you put in the items that you want, but it's like you can have like the smoothie bag or you can have the there's lots of different things.

So um, yes, we we could do something like that.

I will say um if it's a program, if it's the vendor, I know um it's not all local, so um they get it from everywhere.

Okay, yeah, yeah.

Well, I don't know where they get it from.

Yeah, I'm just uh just pointing it out.

Yeah, I don't know what they get it from, but uh I've utilized it.

Yeah, and do you all you all are not at any health facilities now?

Um so our one of our very first market in Atlanta was a pop-up market at the center well facility in Adamsville.

Um and so we do partner with health facilities.

We are talking to some large health care systems right now about being on campus, both with the mobile market and setting up pop-ups.

So um and doing some mixed boxes for a different system.

So thank you.

I'll yield back.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

And then I had a question.

Oh, yeah, just a quick follow-up for Zach.

What was the um so in terms of the f the other food distribution events um that we I think we had one in January, right?

Were we gonna do one in February?

The end of January was the last one.

We don't have one scheduled for February.

Okay, okay, gotcha.

Of course, we haven't approved the budget for it.

Okay, gotcha.

Um is that are y'all already thinking about additional food um security programs, yeah, yes for the budget.

Yes, we're still revisiting the whole strategy and figuring out what is the most sustainable um operation.

Okay, and what's remind me what was the um was what's the average cost for one distribution event?

Yeah, with all this for all five sites for one day.

Right.

I want to say five thousand boxes, five, six thousand boxes.

Let me get the the number, but I order magnitude maybe around four hundred thousand dollars, something between three and four.

Okay, four thousand for one event.

Each.

Okay, gotcha.

Okay.

Um I mean I think the food distributions are great because you know that's sort of like mass events, and I think there are opportunities for us to you know spread out.

Um I do like this one also either or it's an and.

Yeah, it just gives more flexibility and um you know the I I am really encouraged by the anecdotal, I think numbers of when we're sort of when people get used to having them there, then more people start showing up.

And so it'd be interesting to sort of track uh, you know, we continue the mobile market program to see how many more individuals will serve, and then but you know, on a weekly basis.

Right, absolutely.

And and and look also toward food, you know, supporting food pantries.

I think the large distributions, six thousand boxes go out, feeding six thousand families, the ongoing mobile markets, and some stationary uh pantry type things.

That's what we need.

Commissioner Bolton.

Thank you.

And you guys, just so you know, I'm gonna ask questions from the sheet that was just share it with us.

I I want to confirm first that the annual costs are countywide, regardless of where the locations is, is just that's correct.

One one cost worthy county.

Okay.

And at the bottom in the chart where it says annual cost of credits, option two is less than option one.

Was that option two is only two days, two markets?

Okay.

So it's fewer markets per day.

Okay, I see three markets for option one is as is no changes, three markets, two days a week.

Um days a week, three markets each day.

That's a better way of putting three three stops.

Um option two is two days of markets, but two stops each day.

So one viewer stop each day.

Gotcha.

And also under option four, is this saying you guys would use your vehicle in addition to the fresh on deck vehicle or as an alternative.

Okay.

Yeah.

So we would loan you guys the vehicle, but so there shouldn't be an additional cost for you if we're loaning you the vehicle.

Um I think there's a lot to figure out there.

We we have not figured out how that would work, but like who would pay for gas, you know, all the things.

Um, you know, there are some details to get through, but you know, hiring a driver and you know, somebody to manage is you know, I think would be necessary.

Okay.

Because theoretically we'd be doing it more days if we had a bigger vehicle and be able to serve more.

Yeah.

Okay.

All right.

I didn't see that here for more.

Okay.

Yeah, no, I was just trying to get a little bit of clarity on how the costs would increase if we were giving you the vehicle.

I know gas would be a little bit more, but some of the expenses should be transferable.

Um, yeah, I mean, this yeah, so there's the driver, you know, costs would go up.

I mean, there are some things that we would take on if we were doing the fresh on deck bus.

Um, we'd probably need some kind of a dedicated program coordinator if we were doing three, maybe four days a week, um, more stops.

I mean, it just becomes a bigger program, right?

And so um theoretically, there's a few more costs involved.

More efficient, but more costs.

Okay.

I see here it says potential additional new stops for the third day.

Okay.

And then the other thing I just wanted you to clarify is for each of the options and even currently, what's the the cost that we put into the program, not the credits, but what it pays for?

Because the um those who patronize, of course, they purchase their own items, they get the credits and stuff.

So what else does the cost pay for?

The entire operational cost for the market.

So it's staff time, um, it's gas, it's uh cost of food, um, to purchase.

Um just thinking of like the big buckets, insurance, you know, operational costs, the hot spots that we have to carry for the point of sale to work, you know, the cost of um tax uh what is it, sales tax, and you know, all the things that come with keeping SNAP up to date, so all of that is DeCap County the only organization that uses your mobile market?

No.

Okay, so we everybody shares in those costs for staff and gas, that's correct, insurance and all of that.

So it's portioned out per market.

Yeah, okay.

And the purchase of the food you said comes out of that as well, and then the patronizers they pay for the food again.

At market or below, correct?

Okay.

All right, thank you so much.

I yield back.

Commissioner Patrick, did you have a question?

I did have a question, uh, but Commissioner uh Bolton asked it, which was are these costs annual and countywide?

Yes.

And uh the answer was yes on both of those.

Um so thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

I did have two questions myself.

Um when you're having the markets and you have three in one day.

How is that an allotting enough time for you to service everybody or the market?

I was wondering that you had shaken though, right?

So we would love to be able to be in a place more time.

Um so you know, maybe if we did two markets a day, but we spread it out over more days.

So theoretically, there's a world in which we did this five days, maybe it's the same number of markets over, you know, that we would do over three days, so three, six, nine.

So nine markets over five days or four days could be, you know, allow us more time to actually be in place, have people arrive, not have to be there right as we show up, right?

To make sure they're in line for buying something.

Um as Mariah said, it's just getting busier, so we definitely have had to cut people off and say we've got to get to the next stop, otherwise we'll never get there, you know.

Especially what is the first stop on Mondays?

Um it's the senior center.

No, that's we walker on Fridays.

The first stop on Mondays, you have it in your presentation.

Yeah, the Candler, South the Cap Senior Center.

Yeah.

Um it we have I have been there myself, or we've had to just tell people we're like, we're so sorry, we have got to get to the next stop.

Uh so we would love more time in place.

Okay.

Love more time in place.

And then a question on, and I I applaud y'all for the work that you're doing.

I know years ago went with City of Stone Mountain, we had a farmers market every Tuesday, and I helped try to help organize that, and I so I know that pain.

And then we also had another organization doing a mobile market for a couple years, and it just got to be too much, and they haven't been able to do it in the last year or two.

So this is great work, but it can be very difficult work.

So I applaud y'all in that.

Um question about your capacity to expand, though.

Um is there is there capacity to expand in the way that we're thinking?

Could you take on municipalities?

Because I know district four, we do have a lot of food deserts in including in our municipalities, and they may want could want to partner with you as well.

How what is that capacity like?

Yeah, we we don't we'll hire as we need.

Um we've got an operations team that is really phenomenal.

We're small and scrappy, but um we can that make that's our superpower, right?

So we can be anywhere we need to be um with funding, obviously.

Um but we can hire up, we've got a group of people that you know really want to join the team, and you know, we'd love to bring them on, so we're ready to expand if y'all are.

Awesome, thank you.

Um that that's all of my questions, commissioners.

Any other questions?

Okay, thank you again so much for being here today and for the great work with the mobile market.

Um it looks like it was a resounding success.

It's always good to be able to bring the fresh produce to our constituents.

Yes, so we appreciate you, and I do appreciate um COO Williams and the administration for the conversations we'll continue to have on how to best serve the community in this capacity.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right, so we actually do not have a second presentation today on the arts and culture council was um counseled at the request of the administration, and they will come back at a later date if they so choose.

So at this time there is also no executive session.

I know, right?

We're all excited about that.

So I think oh my gosh.

Madam Presiding Officer.

Come on, attorney Phillips.

Good morning, everyone.

Good morning.

I have a last minute walk-on item okay just to preserve an option for next week.

Okay.

Um, and I would like to explain what it is and ask central staff's help in handing it out.

We were so close.

This this should just be a matter of adding this as another walk-on.

Yes.

I had hoped to hear from the opposing side.

Um the county exchanged in I believe 2022 easements.

And a part of that easement exchange agreement included a potential donation that the county merely has to accept.

We have not accepted that donation.

There have been a lot of issues going along in the general general area of the easements.

Um, but this walk-on item would be used on the 26th of February to accept the donation, should we have a need to accept it at that point and preserve those funds for the county?

If we end up extending the time for the county to accept it, we will come back and withdraw this item.

But in an abundance of caution, I felt a need to walk this on.

I'd hope to hear that the extension was issued by this morning.

Having not heard it and you're at the end of the meeting, I respectfully ask that you accept this on the agenda.

And does this need to go to a committee consent?

I feel like we need might need to discuss I I would ask that you send it wherever you need to um in in the way of committee with the one caveat that if necessary, it's available for vote on the 26th of February.

Okay.

So I think right now we'll set it for PECS, but if we could also, if motion or action is happening before the 26th, if we could get um email communication.

You will.

Okay.

And then maybe we could actually act on it on the 26th, but for now we'll set it for PEC.

Is that fair?

Yes.

When is next PECS?

We actually have next um PECS.

Well, we were supposed to next 25th.

Um we are actually supposed to have PECS uh the same day we have our regular scheduled BOC meetings.

So it's 26, I'm sorry.

Okay, well, the but the committee is after the BOC meeting, then so if we're not comfortable voting on it in the BOC meeting, and it can go two PECs.

Um but I I think it would be dependent upon the urgency and the communication that we hear and whether or not we feel comfortable voting as a board or whether or not we want to continue pushing it to PECS.

Yes, ma'am.

And if I could, just in terms of the urgency, um, with this being a walk-on, can you discuss the urgency?

We had had some communication with counsel for the donor in this instance and understood that we would extend the time for a donation.

Having not heard from them, I felt a need to walk this on to preserve the county's right by having it on your agenda and available for vote next week.

If for whatever reason they do not agree and sign committing to extend the time the county's time to accept these funds, that vote would be necessary to avoid forfeiting the right to those funds.

And would that vote need to occur on the 26th?

It would.

Okay.

We may not get it next time.

And my again, my hope is that we won't have to, and that opposed the opposing side has just been delayed in confirming their agreement to extend, but in an abundance of caution, I I felt this was proper to preserve the county's right to the funds that would be donated should we reach that point.

Understood.

All right.

And um, are you able to please distribute that agreement um to the commissioner so we could take a look at that agreement?

I can.

It's a again a four-year-old agreement at this point.

We will we will dig out a copy and get it to you, Commissioner.

Yeah, that would be um fantastic.

Just uh seeing the interrelated, I would like to definitely see it and um it's um engagement with district three.

I would definitely like to see it.

Thank you.

Commissioner, question.

And so um Henrico 183 LLC.

Um, so this is the the land swap parcel.

No, this is the easement swap.

It is not the land swap.

Okay, but it's really but it's part of the land swap agreement.

No, it is not.

It is a separate, a completely separate deal.

Okay.

Go ahead.

It is a separate deal where easements were swapped to allow for access to facilities that this company owns and provide to the county in exchange some space where it could be developed for walking and and the like.

So these were merely easements that were exchanged.

It is not a part of the land swap.

And I want to be very clear about that.

Okay.

Because the um because the land swap agreement had a donation of 1.5 million.

That's right.

So that's a separate.

So this is the same.

That is a different, that is a different deal.

There's two separate 1.5 million dollar.

Two two separate deals completely, Commissioner.

And I don't want to confuse you by the area and the names.

Well, it is confusing because you walked it on without any information.

I understand.

We were we were told that we would be able to get this extended um to protect the entity the cab and its right to claim these funds.

I felt the need to do this, it's an independent decision.

Um, just to make sure we were not asking you to vote having walked something on last minute.

I hope to get it today.

Okay.

Um but you were about to conclude the meeting, madam presiding officer, and I could not let that happen without preserving this right.

I needed either that in my hand, or I was going to ask to preserve the right by presenting this.

I will get the easement agreement to the agreement.

So you can see the difference.

In the map and everything.

Sure.

Okay.

So we'll do that.

Awesome.

Anything else, attorney Phillips?

That is it.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Seeing nothing else, if I could get a motion to adjourn.

So move.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Thank you so much.