Marietta City Council Agenda Review Session – August 12, 2026
Marietta City Council Agenda Review Session – August 12, 2026
The Marietta City Council held its agenda review session on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chamber. The meeting focused on finalizing the agenda for the regular meeting later that evening, receiving departmental updates, and recognizing employee achievements. The council approved the July 8 meeting minutes and set consent items for the regular meeting, including a motion to take a previously tabled civil service item off the table and add it to consent.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the July 8, 2026 regular meeting minutes.
- Approved consent items for the regular meeting, including:
- 407 Atlanta Rezoning (public hearing required, placed on consent after adding language to MOU to include "consistent with normal operations and state law")
- Tree Fund alternate compliance (fee increase to $400, placed on consent)
- Hotel motel tax discussion referral to Parks, Recreation & Tourism Committee (added to consent)
- Two settlement agreements
- BLW action
- Multiple street project items
- Motion to take civil service item (previously tabled) off the table and place on consent for the regular meeting.
Department Updates
Police Department (Chief Bean)
- Three current openings; two certified officers about to be hired (one Air Force security forces with transferable certification, one returning officer from Sandy Springs).
- Recognitions: Distinguished Service Awards to Major Dave Collins and leadership team for World Cup FIFA security planning; Life Saving Awards to Officer Luftig, Officer Haney (lightning strike response), and another officer for auto accident rescue.
Fire Department (Chief Pacico)
- Conducted joint training with school system on bus fire demo.
- Two openings; six candidates being interviewed; new lateral hire from South Georgia starting.
- Upcoming stair climb event on September 6th to support National Firefighters Support Fund.
Parks, Recreation & Facilities (Eric Black)
- Elizabeth Porter Park Spray Ground: 27,000 visitors so far this summer; open daily through August, then weekends after Labor Day.
- Youth basketball league registration open; practices start October 5, games November 7.
- Upcoming events: Glover Park concerts (Casper and the 911 Band on last Friday of August), Brown Bag concerts (Thursdays at noon in September), Coffee Campfire & Cryptids at Atherton Square in September (awarded Best Pop-Up Event by Southeast Festivals & Events Association in 2025), Harvest Fest in October.
- Scarecrow in the Square applications open.
Human Resources (Keish Register)
- Good candidate pool for most positions.
- Launched employee discount page in August.
- Open enrollment for benefits: October 13–30; health fair in January; mobile mammogram moved to January.
- Projected health insurance increase for upcoming budget is very low.
Public Works (Mark Rice)
- New Holton Wiley intersection: waiting for signed contract.
- Chestnut Hill Road mid-block crossing: equipment ordered; contractor to install after arrival.
- Church and Sessions intersection: discovered additional stormwater pipe issue; design ongoing; awaiting Marietta Power pole relocation.
- Whitlock Avenue resurfacing: GDOT contractor notice to proceed for mid-September.
- Kennesaw Avenue crossing: CSX working; expected completion Friday (August 14).
Information Technology (Ronnie Barrett)
- New website accessibility features implemented to comply with federal ADA Title 2 requirements: includes contrast/color adjustments for vision impairments, PDF document accessibility with text descriptions and phone support.
- Created internal pension bot for employees to answer common questions and estimate retirement benefits; may expand to other city services.
Presentations & Recognitions
- Video presentations: First day of school in Marietta; Elizabeth Porter Park mural restoration; Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art's America's 250th celebration exhibit; Parks & Rec recreation staff and special events team videos.
- Recognition: Kelsey Thompson White received the Next Generation Award for Young Professionals of 2026 for innovative public service and collaborative leadership in housing and community development.
- Accent Marietta development update: 240 apartments and 50 townhomes at former Harry's Marketplace/Studio Movie Grill site; first move-ins in two weeks; townhomes starting in 30 days; nearby shopping centers nearly fully leased with new restaurant and grocery store.
- Employee compensation comparison tool demonstrated: compares take-home pay across 16–18 governments (Marietta vs. Cobb, Roswell, Sandy Springs, etc.) showing Marietta employees take home 10–30% more due to no Social Security deduction, city-funded IRA, and lower health insurance costs. No increase in health insurance recommended for current year.
Community Comments
- Mayor acknowledged the tragic death of two-year-old Messiah Harris in the Franklin Gateway community and asked for prayers for his family.
- Council member recognized his daughter visiting the meeting.
Key Outcomes
- The agenda review session concluded, and the meeting adjourned at approximately 6:55 PM, with the regular council meeting scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM.
Meeting Transcript
I'd like to call the city council agenda review session to order, please. First item of business is uh approval of the regular meeting minutes from July the 8th. Is there a motion? Motion to approve. Second. Motion carries. City council agenda's review. Council member Cheryl Richardson will lead us in the invocation. Also recognizing the mayor of High School Air Force Junior ROTC to present the colors and to take them out. The next item would be the mayoral back to school celebration, which you see all the reserved seats as they finish football practice. And Council Member Anderson Jason and Mr. Ghosting will introduce the band members that'll be here. Yes, sir. On the schedule appearance, we have four people signed up. And they'll each get five minutes each. We have special meeting, regular meeting. Any reason to take any of those four items off? Any objection? No objection. Yes. There is an objection. Can we take civil service off, please? Civil services nine on. Next item. Anything from change before we talk about it at seven o'clock in this meeting. Yes, sir. Um I've provided them to you via email, but um the applicant has provided an updated stipulation letter dated yesterday, um, which references um some more technical details related to their generator and to some sound creation. Uh they also this afternoon provided to me a sound study. Um, and we have that for you, and we can oh, it is already at your um seats, uh and so if there's any uh questions for that. Um happy to answer whatever questions council may have. Is this an updated sound study? I mean, they only did one right, so I gotta copy just to do that. Yes, that's correct. Okay, just re hash I think there's one other thing that but yeah, because this we I think we have to have a motion to take it off the table first. We don't usually do it, but I keep finding Robert through the orders where if it's on the table, there would be a motion to take it off the table. And it was tabled. Yes, yeah, that's easy enough. Yeah, it's easy enough. And if you have questions that the mayor hasn't not insisted on it in 16 years, so I was gonna say we've had other things that have been on table, we just took them up. Yeah, and that's what I've but I can't find in Robert's Robert Spruce is off. I'm just looking at Robert's through. I say we just do it, it's gonna be one quick motion take it off the table. That's the reason. There's no secret agenda to keep it off. No during discussion um that we had talked and basically said it was going to be back on in August, so that was the expectation, I believe. Yeah, yeah. We usually say table and sometimes we table and send it somewhere else. Yeah, but I think technically it has to be taken off the table. That's easy enough. Okay.
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