Marietta City Council Meeting Summary - December 18, 2025
Marietta City Council Meeting Summary - December 18, 2025
The City of Marietta held its final council meeting of the year on December 18, 2025, focusing on budget amendments, departmental appointments, fiscal planning for the 2028 SPLOST, and special recognition ceremonies for departing council members.
Consent Calendar
- Receive and File Finance Report: The committee received and filed the quarterly financial report, noting expected revenue increases from business licenses and commercial permits, while franchise tax collections remained below budget due to warmer seasonal weather and lower natural gas prices.
- FY2026 Parks Amendment: Council moved to amend the Fiscal Year 2026 Parks Bond to receive up to $220,507 of a $500,000 federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant for the Sabinsky Park (Larry Sabinsky Park) construction; the remaining balance is to be received upon further construction progress.
- Board of Zoning Appeals Appointment: Motion passed to reappoint James Rosser Sutherland to the Board of Zoning Appeals for Ward 1, with a term ending January 14, 2029.
- Planning Commission Appointment: Motion passed to reappoint Craig Smith to the Planning Commission for Ward 1 for a three-year term.
- Pension Board Appointments: Motion passed to appoint Ronnie Barrett (Post 4), Patina Brown (Post 5), and Patrick Benito (Post 8) to the City of Marietta Pension Board for three-year terms.
- Public Works Variance: Approval granted for Comcast Communications to install 50 feet of fiber optic cable via overhead utility lines (variance) on Eight Air Drive.
- Speed Study Approval: Moved and approved to conduct a speed study on a 758-foot residential section of Delk Street between East Dixie Avenue and Hawkins Street to determine the necessity of traffic calming devices.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Public Works Cost Inquiry: A council member inquired about projected cost overruns for the 2022 SPLOST projects; staff clarified that expenditures to date are limited to maintenance, resurfs, and planning, and large construction costs have not yet been incurred.
- Fire Station Budget Estimates: A member requested clarification on fire station renovation estimates; staff confirmed the $9.6 million new build and $1.2 million renovation estimates are solid costs provided by the Fire Department, though land costs are excluded.
- Staff Transparency Request: Council members requested the distribution of a digital spreadsheet of the 2028 SPLOST projects for independent review; staff agreed to create and distribute a spreadsheet to both current and incoming council members.
- Project Prioritization: Ward 7 members requested the inclusion of Lawrence Street projects and park improvements in future budget discussions; staff promised to generate placeholder costs for these specific proposals.
Discussion Items
- 2009 Parks Bond Report: Staff reported a current available balance of $76,743.30, noting the completion of Wildwood Park, repairs at Atherton Square, and a delay in restroom and pavilion construction at Sabinsky Park (now anticipated for March) due to licensing issues with vendors.
- Laurel Park Tennis Center Operation: Staff recommended a four-year extension of the agreement with Tennis Dynamics. A council member objected to the consent calendar entry due to the lack of explicit language confirming the exercise of the second renewal option; the item was moved to a work session to allow for legal revision of the contract text.
- 2022 SPLOST Update: Staff provided updates on the North Marietta Parkway streetscape (concept finalized, public meeting anticipated for Jan/Feb), East Dixie Trail (near completion), and Atlanta Street/Waverly signals (punch list items being resolved). Staff noted that building permit valuations were anomalously high due to approximately eight permits for projects valued over $2-3 million each.
- Grant Applications: Staff presented three grant applications: $4M requested for Rottenwood Creek Trail construction, $500k for North Marietta Parkway preliminary engineering, and $150k for a Roswell Road corridor study. One council member disclosed a conflict of interest regarding properties owned by family members along Roswell Road and abstained from voting pending further information.
- 2028 SPLOST Planning: Staff outlined the timeline for finalizing the 2028 SPLOST list, with a target approval by February and a joint public meeting with Cobb County scheduled for March 5th. Budget constraints were noted as manageable ($2.2M over budget after recent adjustments), with discussions held on moving fire station renovations to Tier One.
Key Outcomes
- Vote 3-0 (Consent): Approved amendment to FY2026 Parks Bond for Sabinsky Park grant funds ($220,507).
- Vote 3-0 (Consent): Approved reappointments to Board of Zoning Appeals, Planning Commission, and Pension Board.
- Vote 3-0 (Consent): Approved Comcast variance for Eight Air Drive and Delk Street speed study.
- Vote 3-0: Moved Laurel Park Tennis Center lease amendment to work session for contract clarification.
- Abstention: One council member abstained from the vote on the Roswell Road grant application due to a disclosed conflict of interest.
- Consent: Passed the motion to approve the 2025 SPLOST grant applications (excluding the abstained Roswell Road item).
- Awards Presentation: Mayor and Council presented the Sigma Service Award to Councilmember Griffin Shalpont and the Distinguished Service Award to Councilmembers Andy Mars and Johnny Walker for their faithful and dedicated service.
- Adjournment: The meeting concluded with no executive session called.
Meeting Transcript
Um in over the next few months. Business license renewals. The general business license renewals were sent out last month. They we receive majority of our revenue in the third quarter because our tax deadline for our business license is March 31st without any penalty or interest. So you'll see that revenue increase over the next few months. The commercial permits are up. Typically, we'll see the permits increase a lot in the first half of the fiscal year, and then the second half of the year to go into spring, they'll go um many of those will start construction. So the permits will slow down. Sometimes we do see a balancing of those from uh first half of the year to second half of the year, um, depending on how much um construction is taking place over the summer. Uh charges for services are in line as well. They're in their typical cycle. Um we'll see that revenue increase in the spring as well as the um outdoor sports come into come into play. And so those are the major um areas, and if anyone has any specific questions, I'll be happy to answer those as well. I have a question, yes, sir. On the front, for example, the franchise taxes due to the cycle that we're quite a bit below the budget. No, sir, that has to do a lot with our electric fees, um, our electric revenue because um with electric companies we get franchise tax at a four percent. So whenever the revenues may be lower, um we receive less franchise because it's a percentage. So with our electric and natural gas and natural gas prices have um been lower, and that would reflect be um have a reflection on some of the natural uh heating and natural gas, so those collections are lower, and then you also have um the electric companies that we have. Um with the warmer months currently we're experiencing a lot of cold days, so we'll see those um franchise fees creep up a little bit as we go through the winter months, but we've had a very mild fall, so those revenues are not as high as we would have liked. Thank you. Okay. Thank you so much. And um if double questions amendment um motion to receive and file then is what you'd probably ask. Yes, that's all I was gonna say. And Mr. Chairman may make a motion to receive and file seconds. Make a motion to receive and file. Second. All right, pass Q. The next item on our agenda. The amendment to the griff races. Physical year 2026 parts by department. So, yes, sir. This item is a budget amendment. Um the parks um division applied for a uh grant a while back, and they were um the recipients of the grant. It is a um with a maximum half million dollar match, and these um with construction going for Sabinsky Park, they wanted to request half of that grant fund amount, and they will be utilizing those funds for the construction of the park. There is still the other um half that will be received at a later date once the construction uh moves further along. So the total amount that they're um asking to receive is 220,507 cents. You said that was in part of the grant is not the full grant, then correct. They have up to half a million, so they are requesting a portion of that currently, and okay. And this is our match of it is already using the money that was set aside. This is an additional, this is correct. Okay, yeah. To approve the amendment to the FY2026 parks bond to receive um the federal land and water conservation grant funds. Second. We moved and second. Any questions? Discussion? All those in favor? With consent.
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