Great day, everyone.

My name is Nicole Messiah.

I have the honor and pleasure to serve as your chair of PECS as planning economic development and community services, in addition to serving as the District Three County Commissioner.

And I serve alongside Commissioner Long Spears from District One, District Two, and also Commissioner Robert Patrick from District One joining us today is Commissioner Shakira Johnson and our Madam PO from District 4, along with our district six super commissioner, um Commissioner Ted Terry.

If the committee members have had an opportunity to review uh the minutes, uh, if you wouldn't mind, I'd entertain a motion.

Motion to approve.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Thank you so much.

And that's item 2026-0985, all commissioned districts.

That is the minutes for the May 12th planning, economic development and community services meeting.

The uh next uh items that we are going to um jump in and review would be our appointments for those following along.

We are on page one under appointments.

The first is 2026-0923, all commission districts to appoint Dr.

Leeroy Reese, PhD to post six of the DeCab County Community Services Board.

Is um Dr.

Reese here with us today.

Thank you so much, sir.

Please approach that podium.

Welcome to our PECS committee, and thank you so much for your willingness to serve.

Thank you.

All right, just want to make sure your microphone is on.

Can you hear me okay?

Yes, I think we are we're cooking with Greece.

Thank you so much.

Um again, thank you for your willingness to serve in this uh capacity with DeCab County.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and some of your professional experience or personal that have prepared you to serve on our behavioral health board?

Sure.

Um my name is Joy Reese.

I am a pediatric forensic psychologist by training.

Um I have been a practicing psychologist for 30 years, and I have also been an academician for 30 years.

I'm currently a professor of psychiatry at Morehouse School of Medicine where I've been on faculty for approximately the last 20 years, and I work and train child and adolescent psychiatrists.

Beyond that, I maintain a private practice here in the city of Decatur, uh, where I see primarily a pediatric uh patient census.

I work primarily with um African American adolescent males and young men.

Um I think the things that uh as I think about how I might leverage my experiences to the benefit of this board in the service of um of its citizens is that experience of kind of doing the work, that experience of being an academician and researcher in that work and working at an institution who has as its primary mission the promotion of health equity among all people, particularly those who are in under resource situations.

And I know this board plays a particular important part in terms of how we make behavioral health and uh disability services available to the citizens of DeCab County.

Thank you so much for that.

I appreciate it.

And then I'm gonna ask you just another brief question.

All right, and so given that Claritel is a public community-based, not for profit, how would you work alongside your fellow board members to foster stronger collaborations with the CAB County and other health care providers and community stakeholders?

So, what my perspective um based upon my understanding of what the board is currently doing is they actually work very nicely, seamlessly, even um with with the county uh government, and that they also have a relationship with the state.

I think the charge to the board is to support support the CEO as he tries to leverage public-private partnerships.

Certainly, the board has done an incredible job in meeting the needs of those people who fall in the gap in terms of mental health services.

But I think how we leverage and partner with some of our private sector partners, academic institutions, other health care providers to kind of increase the capacity for those in the county to receive these services will be important.

How I see myself supporting that, one, I have a number of relationships with a number of stakeholders in academia at Morehouse School of Medicine at Emory.

Um, I also am a former CDC, and so I have a public health footprint in terms of kind of how to leverage some of those resources and could see that I could potentially benefit by bringing some of those relationships to bear on the work of the board.

Thank you for that.

And I think that you know, bringing the perspective from the adolescents and having that background and the servitude that we have to uh African Americans, I think that would be a great and added um addition to this particular board.

Could you tell me uh what your thoughts are if uh pointing to the board in terms of um well, I mean, just knowing Claritale's focus is on behavioral health and services, and on this board, we've seen more and more Claritale's desire to get into the housing role and perspective.

And so, what are your thoughts about um you know, providing housing services in addition to behavioral health, or is your focus on focus focus on providing the best behavioral health and substance abuse services possible to the uh citizens of DeCab County?

So I actually think that's a pressing position for the board and the organization to hold to be thinking about housing.

Part of what we know about the social determinants of health is the things that compromise physical and mental health are multi-determined.

Housing stability, food security, factors like that are things that we have to take if we if we really want to impact the quality of life that people are experiencing in terms of their mental hygiene, their propensity to abuse substances, that we really have to attend to those things that influence their risk of those things.

And I think housing is right up there, and so we begin to address housing instability and and and those individuals who might otherwise be at risk for uh deteriorating in terms of their mental health or being at risk for the abuse of uh substances or other drugs, I I think that we're moving in the right directions.

But that's something I would very much be in support of.

All right.

And so just to understand, would that be um providing those services directly or working closely with providers and um one folks to be quite frank that are experts in uh that housing uh arena, is that something that you would expect the support to take on specifically and add to, or just working collectively with the people that are offering those services to improve it?

So the the response I feel comfortable saying is working collaboratively.

I don't want to get out ahead of the CEO or the current strategic plan of the board.

I I think that once I become familiar with the current plans and the current partners and how they're currently working with that, those individuals or those entities, I'd be in a better position to give you a more informed position.

But minimally, I think that working collaboratively would be indicated.

I'd agree.

Thank you so much for your answers.

Uh Commissioner Patrick.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Um Madam Chair, you asked a whole lot of questions, and I'm just gonna follow on with question number two, if that's all right.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Um first of all, thank you for being here.

Uh, you know, your service with CDC is a big deal.

Uh public health in general is important to our country.

It may not be always valued, but it it it is critical.

So thank you for what you've done so far.

Um Claire Tell Behavior serves over 11,000 uninsured and underinsured residents across the Cab County.

What do you see as the most significant opportunities and challenges facing an organization?

And how would you work with fellow board members to address them?

So the the biggest challenge is almost always the availability of resources to provide the services that your constituents need.

Um I think Claritel, as I if I think about my information interview with the CEO, the 95% or approximately thereof is devoted to human services, so they have people on the ground doing the work.

I think how we think about how we expand our footprint, and this goes to part of my earlier response about how we begin to leverage other partners to kind of help us in doing some of the work that uh Claritale does not have the resources to do.

I I think that in a space of limited resources, you know, we know health challenges are very real, that in the space of limited resources that we have to think strategically and think with innovation about how we get to those spaces that we we're not currently getting.

So I think Claritel does an amazing job in terms of kind of being that safety net for folks who are suffering from uh mental illness and substance abuse, but I also think that they are sober about understanding that there are places that they're not reaching effectively yet.

So I think one for me getting educated about that so that I better understand that, and then thinking strategically and innovatively about how we do that work would be important.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Patrick.

Commissioner Long Spears.

Thank you, and I will just go down the list.

Uh nice to meet you, sir.

Thank you for being with us today.

Yes, ma'am.

Um, the third question here is as an appointee to the community service board, what are the top three top priorities that you will focus on during your tenure tenure?

Excuse me.

What outcomes do you foresee as a result of the implementation of these priorities?

So I see they saved the hard question.

So I I think the priorities are have to be around impact.

Are are we servicing people who are in need?

And the metric that we should be paying attention to is do we see less recidivism?

Or are people who we are treating, are they staying well, are they reable able to reintegrate themselves into the community?

People who we treat for substance abuse, um, are they getting sober?

Are they living clean?

Are they able to reintegrate and are they able to establish um a reasonable quality of life based upon their level of care?

I think that's that's priority one is about impact.

I think the other part of that around impact is about the stewardship of the county resources and making sure that we are using those resources as efficiently as we possibly can, while also looking at the same time about how we expand our resource net in terms of that umbrella effect.

How can we bring more resources to bear on the needs of the people within the county?

I think a third piece is um, and this is just a passion of mine.

I'm particularly interested in how we serve pediatric populations.

And so um looking at the liaison that the organization has with school systems or with the Cal County school systems, how it works with you serving organizations, would be an interest of mine in terms of making sure that we're having those touch with those kids who might not otherwise come in the contact with Claritale.

Fantastic.

Thank you so much.

And I just wanted to tell you, I think Claritel is a wonderful organization, and we're very lucky to have their leader and their staff and the great programming that they provide to our community.

Thank you and yield back.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Are there any other questions from anyone?

Um Commissioner Terry, Commissioner Johnson.

No additional questions.

Thank you so much, and I appreciate it again.

Uh Dr.

Reese, thank you so much for your time here joining us uh here in PECS committee, your willingness to serve in this capacity, and we'll have someone from staff to get back to you.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

I appreciate your time.

Have a great day.

Thank you.

The next agenda item, which is still an appointment.

That is 2026-0975.

All commission districts appoint Ms.

Deborah Jackson to post three of the DeCab County Community Services Board.

Ms.

Jackson, thank you so much for being here and pex welcome.

Yes, thank you so much.

Again, uh appreciate your willingness to serve like a Dr.

Reese in this capacity.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and some of either your personal well and uh personal professional experiences that have prepared you to serve on the Claritel Behavioral Health Board?

All right, thank you so much for that question, and thank you for the opportunity to be considered for appointment.

I would say that my experience as an attorney of over 30 something years and having been appointed by ProBay Court to handle civil involuntary commitments for the probate court, is really where I've had the opportunity to see firsthand the need for the services that are provided by um institutions such as Claritel.

Thank you so much for that.

And then um I'll ask the second question as well.

Uh so Claire Tell serves a number of uninsured and underinsured residents across the Cab County, and we have a lot of behavioral some behavioral health um providers, Claritel at this point being the um the at the forefront.

But what do you see as your most significant opportunities to your opportunities, excuse me, and challenges facing an organization such as Claritel, and how would you work with fellow board members to address them?

Okay, well, as was previously stated, I think one of the biggest challenges is always not having sufficient resources to meet the need that really exists.

But I think that Clara Tell, uh, based on my review of the information that they provided, that they are doing incredible things in terms of expanding the resources that they actually have.

So I think that there would be additional opportunities as a board member to explore what other opportunities they are to collaborate with other entities uh within the county and possibly beyond that would enable us to be able to expand and meet the need that uh currently exist.

I appreciate that that the collaborative leadership is important with that.

Uh do you have some ideas of some organizations or the type of entities that you think would be good for Clara Tell to collaborate with?

Yeah, so one of the things I'd be interested in taking a look at is just in terms of um, you know, working with the school system because we are now recognizing that our young people really are in a mental crisis for a number of different reasons.

And so if there is some way of developing a partnership with the school system to be able to provide a resources, and there may be other nonprofit groups that are working in this space that would be good to uh work with.

I don't have any specific ones in mind at the moment, but that would be something that we could definitely take a look at.

Thank you so much.

That was insightful in and of itself, just you know, providing that as a suggestive opportunity because I'm sure uh myself and others would wholeheartedly agree with you in terms of providing more of those services in our um our educational systems where they need the help.

So that's insightful, and thank you for thinking about that.

I'm gonna open the floor up for other committee members, Commissioner Patrick.

Uh thank you, Madam Chair.

Um Mayor Jackson, it's a pleasure to see you again.

It's been a couple of years since we've last talked.

Um as an appointee to the community service board, what are the top priorities that you will focus on during your tenure?

And what outcomes do you foresee as a result of implementation of these priorities?

I would really be interested.

I think the question was raised earlier about the question of housing.

And so I think it would be important that we begin to look at the whole person that's involved and not just someone that has a mental issue or a developmental issue.

But how do we look at them more holistically and what would be a way of beginning to address some of those needs?

Um again, what might be some opportunities to provide additional resources where where they are beyond you know what the county is able to provide?

Um, are there some private um sector groups that we might be able to contact to help support work in this area?

And thirdly, just working together as a group distributed.

How do we maximize the impact that we are currently having?

So, how can we do more with how do we get more to be able to accomplish more to address the need that is existing within our communities?

All right, thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Patrick, Commissioner Longspears.

Thank you very much.

Um I will ask question number five.

Hello, nice to meet you.

Yes, I'm thank you for being with us today.

Um, given that Claire Tell is a public community-based not-for-profit organization.

How would you work alongside your fellow board members to foster stronger collaborations with other DeCab County agencies, health care providers, and community stakeholders?

I would say um my experience serving as the mayor of a city here within DeCab County that um I have experience in terms of being collaborative.

How do you identify uh different partners?

How do you work together?

The importance of building consensus to get things done.

And so becoming a member of the board, understanding what strength that each of us would be able to bring, and how do we build on that to maximize the impact that we are able to have?

Wonderful, thank you so much.

And I also serve on the CSB board, and it's really populated with a bunch of folks that really care about solutions and doing what's best for our community.

Thank you and yield back.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Longspears, Commissioner Terry, Commissioner.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

We do appreciate you spending the afternoon with us.

Is there anything else that you would like to share?

Want to make sure you have the opportunity to do that as well.

Yeah, thank you so much.

Well, I just look forward to a affirmative decision by the committee to be able to move forward to the next steps to begin to be an active part of the process of serving uh DeCab County.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Jackson or Mayor Jackson for your time and you being here with us today at PECS.

Someone from Central Staff will be in touch.

Thank you, kindly.

Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.

All right, thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right.

And uh with that, we're going to go back to our first appointment to ensure that we don't omit that opportunity for a vote, and that is 2026-0923, all commission districts to appoint Dr.

Leroy Reese PhD to post six of the DeCab County Community Services Board.

I am um willing to entertain a motion if one such uh exists.

Motion to approve.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

And then we'll go ahead with the uh next appointment, and that's 2026-0975.

All commission districts to appoint Miss Deborah Jackson to post three of the DeCab County Community Services Board.

Do we have a motion?

Motion to approve.

Second.

Seeing a proper first and second, all those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Thank you so much.

And we're gonna skip just um a tad bit in consideration of, and we're gonna go to page two, and that is agenda item for those following along with us that's under public works and uh under transportation.

Agenda item 2026-0875, Commission Districts Three and Six, resolution order and declaration of taking required temporary easement for constitution road freight corridor improvement costs to the county of ninety-seven thousand five hundred and five dollars for property located at 3327 Woodstock Road.

Thank you so much, Ms.

Keeter, for being here with us today.

Oh so this is a public hearing item that I was asked to present in PECS.

So it's for um uh potential condemnation.

We've had 18 phone calls, four agent visits, six uh six certified letters and two regular letters with no response from the property owner.

So our intent with this today is really just to get a response going to get some dialogue going.

I appreciate that.

So um if so approved out of committee and by the board of commissioners as a whole, then am I to understand this would then initiate the process through the courts for a formal um condemn?

It does initiate the process.

However, we're always hopeful that we can negotiate a settlement without going through the courts.

I I would agree that would be a great um reconciliation to avoid um having to go through the process um fully of the judiciary.

Thank you so much.

Is there any other additional information you would like to share related to that?

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

I want to open the floor up for committee members.

Commissioner Long Spears, do you have any questions or concerns that you like to ask?

All right, Commissioner Patrick.

Yeah, just uh just a statement.

Um it is good to see this is district three and six, obviously, not my district, I'm district one, but it is good to see some investment and attention from the county happening.

Um you all have heard me say this before way back in 1944.

Uh GM was studying the areas around Atlanta for potential location.

One was Dorville and the other was Constitution, Georgia, which is where Constitution Road is, um, and Doraville went out because it had the 30-inch water main versus the 12-inch water main down in Constitution.

Um, and the fact that uh we're putting this nearly hundred thousand dollars in the area, I think is a fantastic step forward for uh for that area.

So thank you.

Thank you so much.

I I do have just um a brief follow-up questions before I go to um other colleagues.

And so um my understanding is there has been certified letters sent to Miss Betty Jean Molden.

Um has there been any research to determine whether or not Miss Baldon um is still with us or if she still lives in the state of Georgia?

Can you tell me a little bit about the research to um ascertain whether or not these certified letters would indeed have reached Ms.

Molden?

Yes, so um our agents have visited our house in Fayette County four times.

One time they actually spoke with her and um not to be morbid, but we did search obituaries and and the like just to make sure that that was the case that she was alive.

Okay, so my understanding is she's not deceased, and is that correct?

That is our understanding.

All right, and can you tell me a little bit about the efforts to try to um find out if she has any errors or any any next if kin or anyone else that might be a to be in a position to be able to either get a hold of her and get a response or that may be an illegal um capacity to speak on her behalf?

Well, right now she is the property owner of record, so she is the one we need to negotiate with if um you know uh if she is deceased, then we'll have to change to um her heirs.

All right, and so just sort of understanding there's been no um attempts to try to see if there's um a next to kin or someone that may be um has the capacity to be able to authorize um us moving forward absent a condemnation.

There's no other individuals that we've spoken to or tried to.

When the agents met with her the first time, they did suggest that um they bring in a relative or uh um a lawyer or some representative to assist her, and she was not interested in doing so at that time.

Yeah, I completely um agree with that.

And so um how old is Ms.

Molden?

Oh, I'm I'm not sure, but she is a senior, so she's a senior, so um we figured out whether or not she was laboring with something else, and just you know, the interest of property rights and interests and making sure people have proper notice.

Have we done that at this point that you're aware of?

Well, we made 18 phone calls, four agent visits, two registered letters and or two regular letters and six certified letters with no response.

Yes, and you would be surprised as the you know, sometimes, especially if there's capacity challenges that someone may not have the ability to respond.

But I appreciate your response and um entertaining those questions, those are important in terms of property rights.

So but thank you.

Uh I appreciate it.

Um Commissioner Longsburg, do you have any questions?

All right, Commissioner Patrick.

All right, Commissioner Johnson, uh all right, and none of my colleagues seeing no other questions or concerns.

I will open up the floor for a motion.

Motion to approve.

Second.

All those in favor?

I have public hearing.

Thank you so much.

And then Ms.

Keeters, uh, if you wouldn't mind staying right there, we're gonna um be right here with you and go ahead and knock out the second item.

No worries.

And that's 2026-0876, still in commission districts three and six, a property right-of-way exchange at Stony Stone Quarry Road, landlot 144, 15th district.

Um can you tell us about that, Ms.

Keater?

Yes, there's a 10-foot unapproved right-of-way that goes through this area that we've been able to identify on previous tax maps and and lock it down.

Um for the South River Trail, there's a more desirable location for the trail that will end up exiting out at Moreland closer to the um to the uh pedestrian hybrid beacon that GDOT's about to install that will cross Mooreland.

So um, and we're we're actually getting a 25 foot easement.

So we're trading 10 foot uh unimproved right-of-way for a 25 foot right-of-way so that we can connect the South River Trail following up from Custer to um to Moreland, going towards the city of Atlanta and the belt line.

All right, thank you so much.

Um I appreciate that.

All right, uh Commissioner Patcher, do you have any questions that I jump in there first?

Uh I do not.

All right, all right.

Um any other uh colleagues, any questions?

I just had one clarifying question.

Sure.

So I think you say we're trading a 10-foot for a 20 20-foot easement or right-of-way.

I didn't misspeak, it is right-of-way.

Okay, thank you.

And similar, and just to go back a little bit, but similar to the last agenda item, um, the record owners um is so it also includes our appropriate court judge, tax uh commissioner, and all others claiming any interest.

So is this just to supersede um any additional interests that anyone else may have on this agenda item?

I'm saying I'm sorry, in terms of um the the notice, and so it's referencing the other one, but um in a similar fashion in that you know, making sure that people are having the proper notice.

Um can you speak to what specific notice um has been provided in this particular issue instant, excuse me.

Well, the the noble realty who's the property owner is 100% for it, so they're they're on board, they're excited about the South River, they're also excited about where the 10-foot easement is is more developable land than where the 25 is, so it's a win-win.

We get what we want and be and can be around the river for the trail, and he gets what he wants.

So he actually approached us about the swap, so he initiated it.

Oh, really?

Okay, thank you for that.

I appreciate it.

Um with that being said, I will open up the floor for other colleagues at this point.

Any other uh colleagues like to add or any questions?

Commissioner Terry Thank you so much.

I will um call for the vote and um all those four uh motion to approve second.

Um all those in favor?

Aye.

All of those who object?

Yay.

Um again, just being really apprehensive and wanting to make sure that I have an opportunity to do more due diligence, particularly in and through district three.

And so um just to go back uh a tad bit, and Ms.

Keeter, thank you so much for your time.

I appreciate you.

If there's no other agenda items, um we thank you again.

But just um asking attorney um Phillips, I just have a couple of questions if you um and I'm fine to continue offline if you would like, but just um in and around that agenda item just to go back briefly that ends in 0875 and the um respondents essentially being the tax commissioner and um our probate uh court judge is that um place that particular way or caption um that particular way so that we can put a priority or tell me a little bit more as to why that's captioned um as the come Denise um listed.

Well, Commissioner, I will take advantage of your offer to speak offline.

If you have some detailed questions about the setup and the legal reasons, I'll give those to you then.

That would be fantastic.

And if we can um also just um plan for a discussion about that particular item as well, following up with um Mrs.

Atwater's regarding the same.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate it.

The next we'll go to agenda item for those following on on page two, and that's under community development.

That's all commission districts.

Invitation number 2025-165-ITB Memorial Drive Corridor branding sign fabrication and gateway feature implementation, a one-time buy for the use by the community development to obtain fabrication, installation, and implementation of signage and banners along Memorial Drive.

The recommended award to the sole bidder who is responsible and responsive, land jack LLC DBA fast signs for an amount not to succeed 143,624 and 28 cents.

Great day, um Director Mitchell.

Well, good afternoon.

Uh good afternoon, uh Commissioners.

We're glad to be here.

Uh I've got uh a proposal which is uh under the label economic development, and it's for district uh four and six uh presentations being passed out.

Uh, we've worked for years with the revitalization efforts on Memorial Drive Quarter, and by doing that, there are a number of projects that we had considered implementing to encourage economic development in the quarter.

So um we initially this is a branding uh proposal for Memorial Drive Quarter is to put up monuments uh banners and signage along the quarter.

Uh and in essence, we're trying to um get a vendor to be able to start the installation and the fabrication of her signage.

The front end of this project was funded with federal funds uh using Housing Walker, Greg Walker specifically to do the design.

All the work was done with the constituents with um Charets and community input over uh several months uh back when Commissioner Bradshaw was in office to be able to determine what the individuals, both business leaders and also individuals in the quarter would like to have to initiate the the branding and change the reception along the corridor.

So that was done.

We're at this stage where purchasing was kind enough to put out an ITB to be able to get a vendor to in essence fabricate as well as install.

So the ask today is approve the ITB selection for the vendor, the scope of work, which is fabrication, installation of the signage.

Uh and I'll get into specifics of the signage in a couple of seconds, and to select the vendor who's land jacked doing business as fast signs.

Uh by we have background Commissioner Hank Johnson provided a 1.5 million dollar grant that we applied for under the label of a CPF grant.

And which we got to be able to do a series of things, which is one to do signage, but more importantly, to be able to put an overarching device at both ends of Memorial Drive from the jail and ending at Stone Mountain.

So those things were supported by HUD, and we're awarded that back in the March 2023 time time frame.

We're given the responsibility to take on the project.

That's community development.

The purpose of the branding is straightforward, it's to boost economic development.

It's also to define the quarter to be able to change the perception within the that particular area.

This is a symbolic view of the quarter.

It's a west gateway, the global city, Hambridge Village, you all know what that is, as well as the gateway east.

There's one signage type which is going to be eight feet by eight feet as far as structure on a pole.

The other one's gonna be four feet but ten feet high.

And I'm sorry, just really briefly, um Director Mitchell, our screens are not um up and providing the presentation just as an FYI.

So that'd be great for us to be able to follow through a little bit, even though we have the presentation here, that'd be good.

Thank you.

Okay, hopefully the presentation enables you to be able to see.

I apologize for that.

IT can take care of it.

Uh also this gives you a specific locations for the signage one, and also there are six banners that will go on poles along the corridor, but more importantly, there are four distinct locations for signs, type one and type two, which is displayed in the specific addresses are there.

Uh in addition, this is a sign.

Uh it's an example that you can see exactly the branding we took.

Also in context, it shows you the road, a memorial drive giving you a sense of what the signs will look like.

That is type one, which is about uh eight eight by eight.

In addition, this is a smaller sign uh as far as width, the height is ten feet, and that's also in contacts, giving you an example of Memorial Drive, letting you know what it's gonna look like.

Um the banners are gonna be on top of the poles or there, they're gonna be slate.

There's six locations strategically put along the quarter.

And the lastly would like to make a recommendation that we select this vendor, uh, which has been vetted by purchasing.

The amount is only 143,000.

Uh we're using that out of the 1.5 million because there's more to come, and it's gonna include four monument signs and six banners.

So that's the request.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Director Mitchell.

Any uh questions from committee members, Commissioner Patrick.

I see your feet up.

Thank you, uh Madam Chair.

Alan, this is uh a great presentation.

Um I love the uh uh the utility pool signs that you're talking about for advertising in the area.

I think that's that's beautiful.

Uh the question I have for you the ground signs, the monument style signs that you're talking about, are they going to be static signs or are they gonna be LED signs?

What was the static?

It's got a specific sign with the branding on it.

They're not gonna move.

There's no electric, it's supposed to be going to be footings on metal poles to be erected to be permanent.

We also have an agreement with GDOT to be able to uh take care of the area, mowing.

We have to make a commitment using the county resources to ensure that to perpetuity, we're gonna clear those areas clean, nice, and beautiful with grass, etc.

But no lights.

Well, um I don't know if the committee members or the the commissioner uh in the area how they would feel about it, but uh if there was a consideration to come back with an idea of uh LED um sort of advertising things in the area, businesses in the area, activities or things happening at the Board of Commissioners.

I would I would support that because I've seen that type of branding work in other parts of uh the metro area, and uh um I would encourage if you ask, you got my vote.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Patrick, Commissioner Tier.

Um, I'm sorry, Long Spears.

Um, thank you so much.

Um kudos to you.

This looks really awesome.

It's not my district, but um I certainly think this is um a very worthy investment, and thank you for your leadership in bringing it forward.

I yield back.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate it, Commissioner Terry.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair.

Um so Director Mitchell, after this 143,000, is that just minusing from the 1.5 million, or were there other um that's uh it's a decrement from the 1.5.

The heavy lift is going to be the overarching uh signage.

Uh if you've been to Gwyneth lately, have you seen these fairly large uh signs with granite at the bottom and it's uh it could be overarching over the highway.

We're looking at an engineer to be able to design something on the lift is those almost a million dollars.

They're they're fairly expensive.

So we're trying to uh lower the signage to a smaller size to fit to within the budget or use TAD money from the side uh the camp.

There's money from the TAD that we can get allocated for that project.

So we're currently working with an on-call engineer to be able to come up with a design is gonna be very very attractive.

And so the 1.5 million was exclusively for signage?

Yes.

Okay.

That was a grant.

Okay.

Um I do like the idea of um maybe eventually adding some at least lights, and maybe that's more just at night where like the signs are lit up, or maybe they're backlit, and so I think that's a good idea to pursue further.

So maybe there's a way in future signs they can kind of have a little bit more of um a glow or a vibe.

Um, you know, stepping back one sort of step above this project.

I I think that Memorial Drive needs to kind of take a similar approach to how like cities do their downtowns.

And and when I know we have three commissioners who have who have lived in cities and represented cities with downtowns, and there's a whole mindset around getting the businesses together, you know, having monthly meetings, you know, doing programming, and and so you know, I appreciate the work you're doing because you've been given this, we've been given this grant to do one thing.

Um, but adding a sign is is and doing some landscaping isn't gonna transform Memorial Drive.

Um it's gonna take a larger effort.

I know that there's been discussions about trying to form a CID, um, but if we had that just that mindset of how a city would treat a downtown, then you begin to have buy-in from all of the property owners, business owners, all the stakeholders along the entire corridor to take it to the the next level.

And and so I I think we're we're just because the county really isn't a city, you know, we don't have a downtown, we haven't really exercised that muscle of bringing community together in a a sort of a very direct, like we'll just call it a downtown association, right?

This is something that we had in Clarkston.

All the business owners got together once a month, and most of the work they did, right?

They would ask the city for some money here and there and ask for support, but it really was empowering them.

So I know that's not your responsibility here, but I think you know, between commissioners three, four, five, six, and seven, like we all represent Memorial Drive, honestly, if you look at it for the whole expanse.

Yeah, um it really needs like kind of that next level of engagement.

And so maybe we can you know continue having those conversations uh with all the commissioners that represent Memorial Drive to say how can we, you know, take what's you know, a good improvement, signs, lights, landscaping, and then you know, move it forward with more activation, more placemaking.

Um and you know, Commissioner Patrick made a good point.

Like sometimes those small things of like lights or LEDs, um, you know, those things sometimes really do go a long way.

So just something for us to you know consider in the future.

Um thanks for the comments.

Um we've done some of that.

We meet with Commissioner Johnson a monthly to go over what we call a revitalization strategy, where it includes about six departments to also include side to camp where we meet and give an update from uh most things.

But your idea is great.

We pursue that to add that to our committee uh meetings to ensure we can capture that as well.

So we meet monthly.

We need to add that content to uh our gathering so we can have an outcome that you just express.

Okay.

And I'll look at lights with regard to the signs that we're putting up.

Sure.

But we do have an active committee that meets monthly that we can add to that.

Okay.

I appreciate your comment.

Sure.

Well, I know um Commissioner Um District 4, you know, has led on this initiative, so you know we'll we'll I'll yield to um their prerogative.

But um I think if we got the other districts involved um in those updates or those planning, I think we might get a little extra you know steam behind that revitalization strategy.

I I don't think it's just departments, I think it's gonna have to be other outside organizations, either that we support or that we create ourselves that will do more than what government can do.

Okay, I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Yes, and uh and up being the only cityhood that I have in my home facing Memorial Drive, you know, uh see it regularly, and so would support um you know, making sure things are just a bit more lit up in the signage and more intentionality there, and I think it's amazing what you guys are are doing with this, and certainly something for the rest of the commissioners to consider for sure.

But that um commissioner uh well, Madam PO, I was gonna say to Kara Johnson, but Madam Um PO, this being your district, wanted to make sure that we um had the last word um with you.

Thank you.

I and I answered either, it's fine.

Um, thank you for the comments and the suggestions, and thank you to Director Mitchell.

Um, my predecessor started this process with that revitalization study that had a lot of community input, and we're actively been working the entire time I've been in office to implement that, and we have been focused on district four since it was started in district four, so that has been our push.

Um, but I think to Commissioner Terry's point about having how cities are successful in their downtowns.

I know I was part of our main street and downtown DDA in the city of Stone Mountain.

I think if we are able to complete the feasibility study on setting up a CID or BID, that entity can act on that and have that input and focus on Memorial Drive.

So that is something my office is funding.

We're working with the CAB chamber to complete that study.

Um, and so that work is underway, and that's one way to bring all that in.

Um, so open to other commissioner districts weighing in.

Um, but we are continuing to push on the work that has been started for district four for the past couple years, and you know, we have decided to cab, we have the chamber, so we have more than just the internal departments in these monthly meetings.

And I I I will just add quickly because I appreciate um the comments tonight, and actually, this is probably the first time we've really talked about this since I've been on commission in the in an open meeting forum.

So, one of the things we're working on in our monthly meetings is a goal setting exercise.

Um, so those are due back from the departments and the key stakeholders soon.

So we'll be able to share that with the board so that everyone can see the progress that we're making on revitalizing Memorial Drive.

And in regard to Commissioner Patrick's idea of additional lighting or LED, I would really appreciate if we could move this out of committee with the idea that Director Mitchell could go back and see if there's some way to amend what is forward, what is being presented today, and maybe if possible, come back with a substitution.

Commissioner Patrick.

I'm sorry, do you I think Commissioner Patrick?

Yeah, yeah, also following up on that idea, um, particularly the uh I think it was the four-foot-wide sign that you had, uh Director Mitchell.

Yes, uh but uh 10 feet behind.

10 foot high.

Um, you know, when I go down the belt line, uh it they have a digital sign that looks almost like that that same shape looks like a cell phone, uh, and on both sides, it sort of gives you data on events that are happening in the area.

It's like a touch screen thing as well.

Um, I think not just for for Memorial Drive.

This could be a countywide goal where we have these digital kiosks that sort of provide information wherever you are in the county about whatever's happening, if it's near a trail or a major intersection, uh, I think that would be a beneficial um thing.

And and district one is always grateful to give good ideas from my colleagues.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Patrick.

Um, Commissioner Long Spears.

Um, no further questions.

All right.

Thank you so much.

Um Director, I was gonna say Commissioner um Director Mitchell, I appreciate your time and your presentation.

Um with that, we will open up the floor for a vote.

Motion to approve.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We're gonna um actually go back to page one at this point.

And uh, for those following along, we are on section three, the introductions, and we are proud to introduce the DeCab County Chief Sustainability Officer, and that is Liza Malagro.

Malagro.

Lisa Lisa Malegro.

Lisa Maligra.

Yes.

Madam Chair, Commissioners, I'm honored to introduce our new sustainability chief, Ms.

Lisa.

And it does look like Liza, but it is pronounced Lisa Malaubro.

Um she started last week, one week, a little bit of a weekend and a day ago.

Um, she comes to us uh bringing more than 15 years of experience, leading sustainability, resilience, climate action, and environment environmental innovation initiatives across the public and private sectors.

She's nationally recognized, uh sustainability and an ESG leader.

She's built and managed environmental strategies, impacting more than 110 million people annually and supporting 10 billion in infrastructure investments.

Her expertise suspends spans sustainability planning, climate resilience, decarbonization, environmental policy, stakeholder engagement, circular economy initiatives, and large-scale infrastructure development.

Lisa has also advised government leaders on sustainability and resilience policy, contributed to the development of environmental and renewable energy legislation and guided organizations in achieving ESG climate adaptation and net zero goals.

As chief sustainability officer, she will lead the CAV sustainability efforts to advance sustainability, resilience, energy efficiency, environmental stewardship, and innovative solutions that support our long-term goals.

And she is much needed, and we welcome her.

So she will be working very closely to get these projects launched, and she's already hit the ground running.

So at this time, I introduce to you Lisa Malagro.

Welcome, Miss Malagro to our PECS committee and to the Cav County.

Thank you very much.

Thank you for your time, Commissioners.

Thank you to Madam CEO in the constituency.

I'm very excited to be able to create a greener de cav with metrics and a story.

Something that's um shows equity and diversity for our the entire county and all the commissioners, of course.

You want to give us a brief on that?

You're teasing us a bit.

Well, it's really quite simple.

No metrics, no story.

Everything that we do, and we have begun working aggressively, we'll have associated KPIs.

Um we'll have a timeline, we'll be transparent, and our intent is to create a dashboard so that we can not only communicate with you all, but the voting the taxpayers as well, right?

So we're looking at every corner of the the county.

Uh we're working to identify low-hanging fruit, what we can activate, what policies will support a more resilient infrastructure infrastructural development for the county.

Thank you for that.

I appreciate that problem solution and impact, right?

Because it doesn't matter if we don't have an impact.

So thank you so much, um, Miss Milagro for that, Commissioner Patrick.

Uh no questions, but uh very grateful that you're here.

I know there's gonna be a lot of projects that we throw your way, so thank you very much.

Looking forward to your leadership.

Well, thank you.

Um, really the goal is operational efficiency, right?

Yep.

That happens to be green.

So that that's that's kind of the target we're taking here.

We just want to make sure that any cost or projects that we initiate um have long-term value, legacy value.

The program that we're intending on creating is not one for the region, but really a model for how counties should be operating across the nation.

And I'm excited to have this opportunity to build that structure here.

Thank you for that.

Commissioner Long Spears.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Welcome, Chief System Sustainability Officer Malagro.

Thank you.

We're very happy to have you and um I know I've been advocating for our chief sustainability officer since um I started serving on this board back in 2023.

So thank you, Mr.

Williams.

We're glad to hear that.

And to CEO Lorraine Cochrane Johnson for um ensuring that this role now does exist.

Asking you shall receive.

Yes, indeed.

We're going to be moving aggressively.

So I look forward to being in front of you soon and receiving your enthusiastic support.

Um so my first question is um, and I certainly don't want to put you on the spot, and I you might have to confer with COO Williams, is if we could set up a meeting just to talk about some of the sustainability ideas and initiatives that I would at least like to put on your radar.

Certainly.

What I would like to do as we are getting um ramped up is I do have uh an outline for a 2035 sustainability master plan.

Excellent.

Essentially a blueprint.

So um I'd like to confer with our team first because I'm pretty confident that I am already working on and touching some of the areas that you're concerned about.

I'm new to the CAB, but not new to this.

And I think that I'm having experience and the stringency of operating a program for the world's busiest airport.

Excuse me, has properly prepared me for what we can present in a manner of uh stealth, aggressive nature, right?

Because I'm not here to be a government employee.

I'm here to move programs forward.

And um I if we could just work together internally so that I can flush some of these things out, sure.

Make sure that we touch some of I want to make sure that we touch every department.

This is a holistic integrative approach that is collaborative, and I haven't quite made it through all the directors yet.

So I'd like to be sure that our department is um introduced and welcomed internally, some of the best practices work best at home first, and I know I've got something on my um dashboard that will make you happy.

Oh, I'm certain that you do.

I recognize that you are the expert.

I am not.

And again, we're just thrilled to have you here, and I know you'll bring wonderful ideas forward.

My next question um does just out of curiosity with your um extensive experience in sustainability.

What is your passion?

Um, what is I guess what is the um sustainability initiatives or categories that are kind of like your sweet spot?

It's around clean energy, recycling, everything sustainability.

Anything specific?

Yeah, well, so that's a great question.

I really at the end of the day am just a girl that likes to play in the dirt.

I love it.

Okay, so I don't just do this as a job, this is a way of life for me.

Okay.

Now, that being said, trash is cash.

We don't manage waste, we manage commodities.

So, yeah, my sweet spot is what you typically would call waste.

Now, I'm also a beekeeper.

I'm also an urban farmer.

So it no bees, no food, right?

So we can touch any corner, but at the end of the day, energy emissions, water waste, transportation, mobility, equity, diversity, transparency, those are the things that matter.

Operational efficiency is what is sustainable, not just the green project.

Oh, fantastic.

And uh welcome aboard.

I look forward to getting our hands dirty together and playing in the dirt.

So thank you so much.

Let's go.

You better commission.

Uh have a green day.

Right.

Thank you so much.

Uh hold on.

We have just uh if you wouldn't mind, um Director Milagro, uh, just really briefly have one other commissioner and don't don't run off and leave us.

Yeah, you just got here.

Sorry.

And and I want some honey.

We have uh our COO uh that you know uh he will give us some honey on occasions and give us that treat.

So I'm looking forward to being able to have yours as well.

Absolutely.

Commissioner Terry.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair, just very briefly uh to say uh it was great to run into to uh Director Malagro in the parking lot last Friday.

Did not know that you were hired until you introduced yourself and they got the announcement that today, and so just couldn't be happier and excited uh about you joining our team here and looking forward to working with you.

Um I want to uh give special thanks to Madam CEO Lorraine Cochrane Johnson for delivering on what really is a long-term uh goal of the county to really have a sustainability director and energy manager and an actual program and a plan.

And so I'm I'm really looking forward to that.

And I did not know that you were a beekeeper.

I think you mentioned farming to me, but the beekeeping is great.

Um just one quick request since we were talking about Memorial Drive second ago.

So we did get GDOT to agree to do wildflower meadows along the interstate, including at the Memorial Drive Exit Ramp.

And so we did allocate money to them as well, Zach.

So maybe we could work with Director Mitchell and our our our Memorial Drive Realization team to get some pollinator meadows um uh in that area to beautify it, but also create some pollinator habitats.

So small little tiny little thing that yeah, I know you'll like.

Um so what I will say is the enthusiasm on behalf of Madam CEO is refreshing.

Um great sustainability programs are a top-down and bottom-up structure, and that's what we're putting in place.

Your pollinators that's a no-brainer.

I do have a pollinator tab in my dashboard.

Uh I'm not a hundred percent familiar with every project.

That's why I've been doing the Tuesday marathon with you all today and the 45-page BOC uh checklist.

Very impressive.

But I can assure you that I'm a quick study.

Memorial Drive is a very important corridor for the county.

I realize that.

And we're working on it.

You'd be surprised with how much we've already gotten done.

I look forward to presenting to you soon.

And just say yes.

Yes.

Thank you, Director Malagro.

Commissioner Johnson.

I just want to say welcome.

Welcome to the team.

Welcome to the marathon.

You picked a long day to hang out with us, but we appreciate you.

Thank you for being here.

Absolutely.

Thank you for having me.

And and I echo again, thank you for being here.

Thank you for your willingness to serve with us here in DeCab County.

Very excited and understands you know, sometimes you gotta get your feet wet and you know, go through the process, and then I'm sure, and I'm looking forward to just the amazing things you're gonna present to us.

So very excited, and thank you.

On a side note, I was here this morning, and um I too have a OMI.

So thank you for um your acknowledgement of the contribution um the community has um had in your life and and and recognizing them in a public forum.

Thank you.

I I appreciate that.

You know, sometimes we get the sniffles around here, particularly things that impact us, not robots, and so I'm glad to see someone who could appreciate the emotion and enthusiasm about those that you know committed and convicted some things into our life.

So thank you for that reason.

My pleasure.

Great brownie points here.

So if there is nothing else, thank you, uh, Director Malagro for being here.

Thank you.

The next is a status update for those following along.

We're in section four, and that is our not none other than our own Dr.

Alan Ferguson.

He's gonna give us an update about affordable uh housing and housing that's affordable, right?

Yes.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Uh, and thank you for this opportunity.

Um Chair Messiah, you know, presiding officer uh Johnson and the rest of Commission members.

So uh what I like to do is you know provide an update on you know kind of recent housing uh activities and uh developments, but then also really kind of couch this presentation as a preview of what's to come over the next uh several weeks.

So uh we'll talk about the comprehensive housing plan, um where we are with the unhoused support uh plan integration, the community land trust feasibility, what's going on with the land bank authority, as well as the housing uh investment bond, and then what's next.

So with the comprehensive housing plan, uh we're now have about roughly about five months or so remaining uh on that on that task.

We're past the halfway mark.

Uh and right now they've gathered all the market and demographic information that uh data uh has been reviewed and is in the process of getting incorporated, and they're going through the phase where they're conducting uh stakeholder uh focused groups.

And uh for those who are listening in, um the Board of Commissioners, you know, commissioned a comprehensive housing plan uh for DeCab County.

I want to emphasize again as I always take the opportunity that it is a housing plan for the Cab County, not just focused on affordability, but comprehensive of all of the housing needs and challenges that we face here in DeCab.

And it's intended to be the roadmap that's gonna guide our activities, you know, for the next uh several years.

So this is just a graphic kind of showing where we are uh in the process.

We're in the month of six, and those stakeholder focused uh stakeholder groups are currently being formed.

Um the next slide uh I wanted to emphasize this is the project landing uh page for the DeCab County comprehensive housing plan.

If uh those interested go to the website, uh engage the cab uh dot the cab county GA.gov and look at the housing plan.

You can actually sign up for some of the focus stakeholder groups, and we're encouraging residents to sign up to those groups that are appropriate to them.

There is a little bit of incentive because we're gonna take some time uh away from them and their business uh busy lives to participate, and so I want to make sure everyone's aware uh of that opportunity.

And again, you know, this work, although I'm participating and I kind of consider myself the beneficiary of the product that's going to be produced, we were remiss if I didn't call out Ava Chabot, who's in our planning sustained sustainability department, they're the ones who are actually charged with kind of quarterbacking this process, as well as our partners, our consultants who are assisting us in this work, Sycamore consultants, and enterprise community partners.

So everything is going well, it's progressing according to schedule, and we're looking forward to continuing bringing this to a successful completion.

So when it comes to the UNHOW support and services plan, you may recall a resolution was passed, you know, encouraging us to begin some work sessions and groups to take those recommendations that were encapsulated within that plan, which was presented in January of this year, and incorporate kind of the best and most feasible and most viable recommendations into the comprehensive housing plan.

So just last Friday we had our first work session meeting.

Some consolidation of feedback and information from that session, and then we're going to come back.

I believe the date is July 9th for our second work session where we're going to go through a final prioritization discussion regarding the recommendations and define which one of those are going to be recommended to be incorporated into the comprehensive housing plan.

So that work continues as well.

But I do want to highlight that in that discussion we did talk about what's currently underway.

And so for 2026, we have various initiatives that are targeted towards the homeless and underhoused population.

Our day shelter services center, the first one in DeCav County is due to have its opening on June 15th.

I'm looking back at Director Mitchell to make sure that date is still the date, and so we're looking forward to that being open as a resource for our community.

And you've probably heard Director Mitchell you know already mentioned that we're working on a second location located in the northern uh part of the county as well.

The goal would be to have that open as well by the end of the year, and we're currently in negotiations with that potential partner to make that happen.

Also looking at uh initiating a couple of other programs, our road to home safe safe space to cab program and providing some additional resources and investments for transitional and rapid rehousing.

You see asterisk besides those two because those are gonna be incorporated in what I'm gonna talk about at the end of this presentation, which is the housing investment bond and providing some resources to help move those along.

We're currently in the request for proposals uh period.

Uh the comment period ended uh for QA ended on June 5th, and proposal responses are due on June 18th.

Um I can tell you that with this last push of kind of marketing and solicitation, we're expecting to get a number of qualified respondents uh for that community land trust feasibility study, and I'm looking forward to going through the evaluation process, selecting uh qualified respondent and getting that uh study underway.

And then also uh wanted to mention um you know the activity with our the Cav Regional Land Bank Authority for those who aren't aware, they have a solicitation uh that's out to build their bench of qualified contractors, developers, and builders uh to help support what is going to be one of the pillars of our activity around trying to increase housing production, you know, activating publicly owned county-owned land and property to hire and productive use, including uh development of housing.

Uh so that RFQ uh solicitation is out and is on the street.

You can see that there's going to be a pre-submission conference uh taking place on June 16th, and responses to that RFQ are due by June 28th, uh 2026.

So we're very excited about the work that's going on under with the land bank authority under the leadership of executive director Tamika Churchill, and really how it incorporates and benefits this overall vision that we have for opening up more housing opportunity here in DeCav.

And so speaking of more opportunity, what's you know coming next?

Um, so you may recall we the Board of Commissioners approved back in November of last year, you know, DeCab County's first affordable housing fund.

And in January of this year, I'm sorry, excuse me, February of this year, uh, with budget approval, um, that fund was approved with the allocation of dollars, 12 million dollars for 2026, looking forward to uh 15 million dollars in 2027 and thereafter, you know, to really provide a funding resource and a mechanism for us to do bigger and greater things in the housing space, and that includes providing financial support uh for the housing investment bond.

And so the housing investment bond, what we're anticipating uh pursuing is really $155 million or so uh in net proceeds that we can use to invest in near-term opportunities that really can transform and impact our housing ecosystem, you know, here in DeCab County.

Um there's gonna be a broad number of uses, which I'll talk about in a moment, um, but it's really going to provide that spark, if you will, of those resources to really unlock a tremendous amount of benefit uh here in DeCab County for the housing ecosystem.

And because it's the funding is derived from general resources, it's going to be available for the entirety of DeCab County, not just unincorporated DeCab.

So the housing investment bond uh programs, there's several of them.

And what we're looking at and what we're gonna bring forth to uh the board of commissioners over the next several weeks are a request to enter into an intergovernmental agreement uh with the housing authority of the CAB County so that we can begin the first tranche issuance of bonds uh as well as approval of all of the programs.

And so of the nine programs that you see you know listed here on your screen, we're looking to launch uh seven of those programs.

You know, our housing catalyst gap financing fund, the home start down payment assistance program, uh we're gonna begin some initiatives around transitional housing and homelessness, our capacity building seed fund, uh, the revive to cab light removal uh program, as well as the brighter home homeowner rehab uh program.

And uh, and then also we're gonna engage in some multifamily acquisition and preservation uh activities.

So as I told uh the board commissioners uh before, we wanted to make sure that as we were designing and getting ready to implement these programs that they were stakeholder and resident uh involved.

Uh, there was opportunity for community engagement for us to hear the voices for folks where ultimately these programs are going to impact.

And so during the month of April, we held four information sessions uh for uh these programs and we recorded those information programs.

And so for those who are interested who weren't able to uh attend or participate during you know the live events, you can actually go to Decide the Cab's YouTube channel and you can see all of those programs listed.

And I believe this week in DeCab County's weekly newsletter, um, there's also going to be information distributed that'll provide links you know to these videos as well, so folks can hear from themselves.

I can tell you that there is a tremendous amount of goodwill uh from our community and support uh for these particular programs because the feedback that we've received is that this is the right moment, the right time to try to bring these forwards to these types of programs and uh resources forward, you know, to our residents and to our stakeholders to really make an impact uh in the housing system.

So just really quickly, and I kind of previewed this earlier, you know, with the uh housing investment uh transaction structure, investment bond transaction structures.

Uh so DeCab County, we're essentially the sponsor, we're responsible for you know debt service, but also providing strategy and oversight for the programs as they get launched to make sure they're doing what they're supposed to do, uh they're performing well, we're providing monitoring, monitoring compliance, make sure they're conforming to expectations, uh, and then making and suggesting changes along the way if needed.

The funding source, as I mentioned, is going to be the Affordable Housing Fund.

Our bond issuer in this is going to be our partner and the housing authority of the CAB County.

And they're also going to serve as the primary program administrator.

But we're going to have sub-program administrators as well, and those include our partner agencies with the county, you know, decide the CAP, the CAB County's Economic Development Authority, the CAP Regional Land Bank Authority, as well as the Housing Development Corporation, which is an affiliate of the housing authority.

And so this type of structure has really been designed to make sure that we can get efficient operational deployment and implementation through existing frameworks that we currently have here in the county so that we don't, you know, for lack of better description, kind of recreate the wheel and create a whole level of new infrastructure and administrative burden that's really you know not necessary to implement these programs.

And here you just have you know highlighted you know our partners and the various programs that they'll be charged with administering.

And what I should also mention is that you're gonna get more detail from me regarding these programs.

This presentation here is just to basically act as a preview.

Um we're in the midst of scheduling.

In fact, I think several of you have already scheduled time with me for your one-on-one briefings where we're gonna do a deep dive into the program guidelines.

And the anticipation is that I will be back for kind of a longer, more detailed presentation, I believe at the committee of the whole, uh, where we'll talk about the programs and the parameters and give a little bit more detail around those things, as well as we'll take up some other matters from my understanding, uh, where we'll discuss probably in an executive session.

So, with all of this, as I mentioned, you know, the goal for this program, this housing investment bond program, is that it provides that spark to really help us fuel the ecosystem.

And we anticipate that the impact is going to be well over a billion dollars, you know, as the funds get deployed.

We attract, you know, both private and other public funds, you know, to leverage those, to essentially create, you know, use this as a slice to build a bigger pie uh for the CAB County and to create uh tremendous impact and really work towards the goal of producing and preserving, you know, over 10,000 uh homes within DeCab County.

And with this slide, very, very hard to read, uh admittedly, uh, but you'll have uh something in the materials that I'll distribute to you in your one-on-one briefing, really just provides a breakdown of where we anticipate the initial bond issuance and the allocation of funds.

And so in the initial bond issuance, we're anticipating that amount is gonna be uh up to 25 million dollars.

And you see here uh the breakout amongst the various different programs, and this, like I mentioned, is just the initial um drawdown bond uh issuance.

Uh, the anticipation is that as we build momentum and pipeline and there's a need, we'll do subsequent issuances that'll eventually build us up to 155 million dollars in deployment over the next two and a half to three year time frame.

So, next steps, in addition to the one-on-one briefings uh that I'll have with you over the next several days, um, anticipating coming back to committee of the whole uh for a presentation on June 18th.

Um, and then you see the timeline from there.

Uh we anticipate coming back to uh the Board of Commissioners on July 7th for bond resolution approval and approval of the intergovernmental uh agreement.

I'm sorry, and the uh and program administration agreement as well.

Um, and then during the month of July, there'll be a series of activities that take place at our partner uh organizations to get their necessary approvals in place, and we're anticipating a final bond closing and issuance of bonds in August.

And we are with the approval uh at the IJ on July July 7th.

Everyone is going to start working in earnest to drive towards a program launch at the end of uh the third quarter of this year.

So we'll be quote unquote open for business in a variety of different programs, hopefully by uh the end of September, if everything goes according to plan.

So more than happy to answer any questions that you may have here at the moment.

Again, you know, I'll be meeting with all of you know one-on-one to take a deep dive in all the program guidelines so you can understand all the parameters and things like that, as you will get calls uh from the residents and your stakeholder constituents, and we just want to make sure that everybody is well informed of what we're proposing and the impact that it will bring.

Thank you so much, Dr.

Ferguson, for that status update.

Um very comprehensive as uh usual.

I'm gonna open the floor up for colleagues first.

Commissioner Patrick, do you have uh some questions or some thoughts?

I do uh um first uh just a heads up, probably about uh five or ten minutes after five.

I it'd be ideal to take a break.

I've got another event coming up and just want to get ready for that.

Um and I'm looking forward to additional conversation.

I did hear you say that you're coming back to the cow, and uh I'm looking forward to that.

Yeah.

Um I don't really have any questions regarding the programming that you're talking about.

Uh the the main question I have is is we're gonna relate to negative arbitrage.

So in years past with water and sewer, we pulled down a whole bunch of money and we didn't do much.

Yeah.

How do we know we're not gonna make the same errors of the past?

That's my that's my that is really gonna be my driving question because uh CEO is asking for additional money from the public.

I think the goal and what we've discussed in the past uh with the goal of really trying to get some of the homeless population housed, as well as making sure that uh, as I told you, uh a friend of mine uh recently had our home foreclosed on ways to address those issues is sort of top of priority.

And I think if you guys can talk through the idea of how we're not gonna pull down the money and then it we don't do anything with it.

Yes, absolutely.

Um so this uh current trancha funds, this 25 million dollars is really based on what we see as kind of our anticipated pipeline uh that we have.

And so the majority of these dollars we anticipate will actually be deployed and put to use probably within the first six, you know, to eight months.

Um we have, and you'll hear me talk more about the uh some specific items when we have an executive session uh you know with Cal because it gets into you know some property concerns, some legal concerns and things of that nature, and it's more appropriately you know discussed there.

Um but to your point, avoiding negative arbitrage, that's really the whole reasoning uh behind doing the drawdown bond structure rather than issuing a hundred and fifty-five million dollars in bonds, you know, all at once.

I mean, if I have my druthers, if you're asking me, I want the 155 right now.

But um, you know, being you know conservative and thinking about you know how you know it's gonna really require resources from the county.

We want to make sure that we deploy those funds in a very deliberate and reasonable way.

And so that's why the drawdown bond structure is in place.

That's why we anticipate, you know, if things kind of stay somewhat stable uh in the market, um, probably a two and a half year window, you know, to draw down funds.

Um if for any reason there's any type of market upheavals, we also contemplated scenarios where that drawdown of funds extends out to three plus years.

Uh so we're trying to be very deliberate, making sure that we've got strong credible pipelines so when we do draw down funds, we can put those funds to near-term almost immediate use.

Okay.

Put another way, your your drawdown methodology avoids us taking all of the debt and then having to pay all the interest at one time.

Exactly.

We're we're going as we progress, is what you're saying.

Yes, yes.

Dr.

Ferguson, I'm grateful.

Thank you, sir.

All right, thank you.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Patrick, Commissioner Longspears.

Thank you very much.

Um I echo everything that Commissioner Patrick said, including the fact that I need to be done tonight at 510 as well.

We both have commitments this evening, but certainly look forward to continued conversation with you and your team.

Um I did also want to just note, I don't know if it was just me, but my presentation was totally out of order.

Um so if it's possible, if you haven't already done so, just send a um send it through the one that you presented through email would be great.

So this slide, for example, is in the middle of my packet.

Oh, sure.

Okay.

So you saw me flipping pace the whole time.

That's what I was doing, which trying to catch up with where you were at.

All right.

Um I have a lot of questions, um, but I will hold most of them related to the HIB until um we have an opportunity to sit down.

Sure.

Um the first question I do have is um around the day shelter that the plan is to have it open by June 15th, which is next Monday.

Yes.

Um I would love to stop by, and so should my office coordinate with you, sir, with um uh director Mitchell, with whom whom would be the best person, or should I just show up?

No, probably just coordinate with uh if you can you know send the correspondence to myself and Director Mitchell uh so that way we can make sure that we're cover uh we're covered from that standpoint and you you know making sure we give you your appropriate response.

Sure.

And yes, if you'd like to come by, we can make definitely make arrangements for you and any other commissioners uh that would like to stop by.

Okay, wonderful.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate that.

And I'm really looking forward to the day center opening.

Yes.

And I know it will be a huge benefit to our unhoused residents.

Um the day should day shelter services that um you're planning to offer.

Will you have all of the services that we have discussed readily available on Monday?

So, for example, the showers, um, the food, mental health, physical, dental, um, legal, all of those services.

Will those all be available on Monday, or are you looking more at a phased approach?

Sure.

I'll look to make it.

Yes, Commissioner.

Um all those activities will be available.

Claire Tell, we work night and day together, uh, work source.

We work obviously night and day together.

Uh new life is ready to go.

They've we've got the staff.

We meet there tomorrow at 10 o'clock.

Uh we're doing some modern repairs, getting ready to go.

The furniture has been ordered.

Uh so we're we're on track.

The the publication, the announcement will go to the CO's office in a couple days to make sure we can hit the 15th for the public to know.

But everything is in order with regard to getting things up and running.

All right.

So and I I can actually take you over there or if you like to come over, you're more than willing to uh have you visit.

Uh tomorrow would not be a good day.

No, no, no, I won't go before the 15th.

You open on the 15th.

That's only fair.

We'll make sure that uh you're invited and all that, as well as everyone else.

But everything is on track to be done by the 15th.

Excellent.

Um the showers are there.

We don't have to install showers, they are physically in the building.

I could remember that.

Okay, so they are in and the building.

And the food pantry is right next door.

The cook's already on staff.

Uh it's very easy to um be able to uh have people walk across the pocket lot with food, all that's physical on site being conducted as we speak today on campus.

What's already there?

All right.

Um my next question related to the And if I could, I'm sorry, um Commissioner Long Spears, I know that you have a hard stop along with um Commissioner Patrick.

It seems like some of these questions um we can take offline and just focus on the um housing goals and a plan presented.

Is it possible that we could focus on some of the other questions offline just in the interest of your time limitations along with that of our colleagues?

I just have one very time-sensitive question.

Since it's scheduled to be open on Monday, have y'all alerted the cities that it will be opening Monday?

And if not, do you have a flyer or anything at all that you can send me?

Because I don't I I can tell you I don't I have one city who doesn't know anything about this.

And I would at least like to pump them the information so they know that we have responded to the need, and doors will be wide open on Monday.

I don't know how the question was.

The question is do we have a flyer or something that we can send now?

Uh yes, Commissioner, we have a flyer.

I didn't hear the question with Zach, sorry about that.

But uh sure, there's a flyer.

I'll uh be with them tomorrow.

I can give you uh a draft press police uh with a flyer we created already.

We're vetting it, which talks about the services at Lambidia where it's located.

It's very graphic.

I can get that to you after tomorrow's meeting.

Awesome.

I'm there at 10, I leave at about 12, and I'll get you something midday tomorrow.

Please do, and I'll pump it out to the cities in my district.

Thank you very much.

Yield back.

And thank you, Director Mitchell, for um jumping in there.

I know that this is um director um or Dr.

Ferguson's presentation, so thank you for jumping in for those questions.

Um Commissioner Terry, do you have any questions?

All right.

Thank you so much for that.

Um Commissioner Patrick.

Um I just want to say thank you for the presentation.

I know we have our one-on-one schedule for Friday, so I will pepper you with questions.

Looking forward to it.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, uh, Commissioner Johnson.

Commissioner Patrick, you I'm sorry, you said you don't have any questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I do appreciate that.

And I'll hold mine for offline as well.

Again, very extensive.

Look forward to following up with questions offline, but the opportunity to present this to the public.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

The next we're going to try to address just a couple more agenda items before I'm being uh mindful of the time and wanting to go ahead and stop.

We're trying to be as efficient as possible for the public.

And those following along, we are on page two under human services.

The next agenda item is 2026-0493.

And that's all commission districts change order number one to contract number CPA, 1349-718 in home services for seniors and their caregivers for the use by the um Department of Human Services to obtain an in-home services for seniors.

We need assistance for their daily living seeking increase to contract funds and term through December 2020 31st, 2027, awarded to trusted hand senior care LLC burn amount not to exceed $1,200,000.

Great afternoon, Director Scott.

Thank you so much for being here.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair, members of the PECS committee.

This is a change order request on an existing contract for in-home services to seniors with which is inclusive of in-home aids that also provide homemaker personal care and uh respite hours to our seniors.

Uh this is a grant, and so what we're looking to do is that increase the funding in our existing contract and and add grant funds so that we can cover the cost for the the increase in the volume of seniors that are now asking for the services, which was different than it was when the contract started in 2024.

And so the contract amount would not exceed 1.2 million dollars from where you currently is.

Thank you so much.

I I do uh appreciate that.

Are there any questions from uh committee members, Commissioner Patrick?

Commissioner Longspears.

Commissioner Johnson, thank you so much.

Commissioner Terry.

Thank you so much.

With that, I will entertain a motion.

Motion to approve.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Your motion uh that motion passes and your agenda item is successful.

Thank you so much, Director Scott, for being with us today.

Thank you.

The next uh agenda item.

We're on page three.

That's 2026-0595, all commission districts, an RFP request for proposal, number 2025-050, on-call services for small area plans, five-year, multi-year contract for use by the Department of Planning Sustainability PNS to obtain as needed an on-the-call pool of planning and engineering firms for planning services.

Recommended award to the eight highest scoring proposers.

Love it.

That is Blue Cypress Consulting LLC Kimley Horn Incorporated Freeze and Nichols Incorporated, the Collaborative Incorporated Ponds and Incorporated NEOO Development Incorporated LLC.

Uh the Inspire Placemaking Collective Inc.

Geographic Technologies Group, Inc.

and the total amount not to exceed $1,250,000.

Again, thank you so much, COO for um being willing to speak to this item.

Yes, ma'am.

I think this item is simply to uh hire what we would call a library of services, the number of contractors who can perform small area plans from time to time.

Um we need to study certain areas.

And so what this does is it allows uh the planning department to choose from any number of uh of these vendors who who would develop a small area plan.

Thank you so much and just a brief question.

Um do we have I guess my understanding is we have some presently, so can you tell me a little bit more about uh this need particularly?

About specific plans, is that what you're saying?

Well, um that we have um some on-call planners is my understanding.

Do we have some presently?

Oh, do we have current currently do we have firms on call to do small area plans?

Yeah, I would have to check.

I don't know that we do, but double check.

All right.

That because I thought we um had um some, but thank you so much for um your response and we'll look into that.

But I appreciate the fact that that's gives us that flexibility.

Yes, I think that's amazing and something that's needed.

I want to open up the floor for questions from committee members, Commissioner Patrick.

Uh yeah, thank you, Madam Chair.

I don't think we do have the on-call planners because I know for the small area planning that's happening or wrapped up in district one.

We've had to go through an elaborate process that we had to go through and it sort of uh slowed us down.

Um I do also want to give a shout out to Commissioner Jeff Rader from back in the day.

He was the one that sort of pushed this notion of having these guys on call.

Umicipality, I didn't necessarily see the the need for that, but that was because there was only one activity center in the city.

But at the county level, uh we have multiple potential city centers, and so the benefit of a contract like this is is right there.

Uh last thing I would add, you know, we had such great success with the small area plan in in the unincorporated DeCab.

The next phase I think we're looking at, I hope Larry Washington's here, maybe not.

Uh, but uh but the idea of a um uh an art community engagement branding contractor, and that might be the next thing to have.

We have obviously lots of retaining walls in that area of the county, and we're looking to put artwork on it as opposed to graffiti on it.

Um and uh to get that extra level of community engagement and support for the project, it might be something that moving forward after this, uh we look into having that next level of uh planning help available to us.

But otherwise, 100% support this works fair fantastic in district one, and I think it'd be applicable to other parts of the candidate.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much.

And I'll just tell you with all that unincorporated we uh uh land that we have in District Three and only one cityhood, which uh comprises just a small percent.

It's great to be able to have um some folks that we can call to be able to uh present and and put forth a plan um particularly in those areas they're gonna have the um gonna be impacted and affected uh most.

So um understanding in certain districts don't have the same amount, even the predecessors before us, um the the desire in terms of planning, but us actually moving forward with doing this now and appreciative for the administration for bringing this forth with that um Commissioner Longspears.

I do have a couple of questions and comments.

Um first of all, I agree with Commissioner Patrick.

This is an excellent idea to have these on call contractors.

Thank you for lifting up former Commissioner Jeff Rader.

Um he certainly is an expert and all things planning.

And I um truly blessed that he is my predecessor, and I certainly lean into his guidance opinions, etc.

And my work as a commissioner.

So of the eight firms that were selected, I noted that four of them are um Georgia based, and the other four are in other states.

Do you lean into those that are Georgia based or specifically like Metro Atlanta based first?

And then if it's an expertise that perhaps um one of the the entities in another state is just stronger at.

I mean, just how how do you guys make that determination when you have a list of eight different on-calls?

Right.

So, Commissioner, are you asking when we have an individual area plan, how do we go about selecting?

Yeah, I mean it's it would be my understanding that we would offer to each uh offer to all of them, uh, and then they would be able to submit their proposal as to you know how they would propose moving it forward.

Okay, so that's how you would handle that.

That's typically how the library of services work.

Okay, so you put it out there like an RFP.

All eight of them would then respond back and you would select the one that makes the most sense.

Yes, ma'am.

And their geographic location at that point is irrelevant.

Most likely with these firms, but you know, what we would be able to do is, you know, some may be occupied on other jobs, stretch too thin, but you know, that's typically what we do whenever we have these um on-call contractors.

We give them all an opportunity to bid.

Okay, very good.

All right, thank you so much.

Again, great idea.

Commissioner Terry.

Yes, thank you, Madam Chair.

Um uh thank you, Commissioners, for um supporting this initiative.

I have been working with Zach for two years on this.

Um that everyone loves it.

I think Zach can count on all hands and toes how many times I've asked him about where this is.

Um so um let's let's get this thing moving forward.

I do want to put a little marker though, because the reason why we were really pushing this is because the last several small area plans took like a year and a half to go through the procurement and that was just way too long.

And so as a result, we did have the Bouldercrest Cedar Grove community that was promised a small area plan several years ago, and district three and six had to put money in to kind of get the process going.

Um so Zach, we're first in line.

Uh this is like three years behind schedule, so you'll be hearing from us about getting their small area plan officially going from um district three and six because um they've been waiting for it.

Um but glad we can get this contract going.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And thank you so much um Commissioner Terry for um for making that point and that push to make sure that we have access to to planners on call.

Um and I support that um in that you're right, we had to make our own initiatives to make sure that we um got that done.

We had to make our own initiatives to make sure that we um got that done.

Also um in recognizing um former commissioner Jeff Rader, who's all things planning and still trying to plan in DeCab County, but I guess that's what you do sometimes with that.

Um I am willing to entertain a uh motion um it and we will go ahead and cease there if you all would like, um just in the interest of time and respect.

Um I'm sorry, C O L.

Just one more item after this, if possible, the park pride item.

Okay.

Um motion to approve.

All right, you just give me a second to to read through that.

Um, but yes, we have a motion here to approve this.

So we have a second.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

And then um in finality, we will end with agenda item ending in 0940, and that's all commission districts approval of park pride incorporated contract number, um, contract two zero two six, and we do have a substitute here.

Thank you so much for that.

If you want to already, all right, Director Bass.

Good afternoon.

Uh we are seeking approval for the um new park pride agreement.

Um, this is an organization we had a relationship with since 2010.

Um, this contract agreement is for 365,000.

Um, the substitute references um the grants section um broadens that particular section um in reference to the changes.

Um but um mainly this organization helps us historically with providing support for our friends groups, the um grant support, um, and they've been instrumental in establishing our 40 friends groups.

So um I know we're on a quick timeline, so I'll wrap that up.

I'm happy to ask any questions.

And Mr.

Michael Hylecky uh from Park Prize is also here in the bank.

So thank you so much, Director Bass.

I appreciate you and all of the work.

And it just got a smash hit and that uh ribbon cutting.

Thank you so much for all of the work that Parks and Rex yourself um you guys have been doing.

So thank you for that.

Commissioner Patrick, do you have any uh any questions, any thoughts?

Um no questions.

I'll just say it's good to see my good friend Mike.

Um next time we get together, we're not gonna use the the birds on uh what was it, Interstate 5 or something like that.

So um thank you.

No 100% support this.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Longspears.

100% in support, and I'm very grateful to Park Pride for their partnership and friendship in my first three and a half years.

Thank you, sir.

Yield back.

Thank you so much, Commissioner Terry.

Thank you so much.

With that, I will entertain a motion.

The last motion in this committee for today.

Motion to approve.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

I'm sorry, I like there's one additional motion to adjourn.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Thank you so much, ladies and gentlemen, for being here at Facts.