City of Roswell Committee Meeting - March 10, 2026
City of Roswell Committee Meeting - March 10, 2026
The City of Roswell held a committee meeting on March 10, 2026, chaired by City Administrator Randy Knighton. The committee discussed and moved forward several agenda items, including a drone first responder trial, multiple code enforcement ordinance initiations, a horse stable zoning amendment, transportation agreements, and a discussion on public records policies. No public comments were taken as this was a committee meeting.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of February 24, 2026 Committee Meeting Minutes: Motion by Mayor Robichot, second by Councilmember Brumley. Passed unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Item 2: Drone as First Responder Trial Agreement: Police Chief James Conroy and 911 Director John Potrabowski presented a proposed agreement with Brink and Motorola Solutions for a six-month implementation followed by a one-year free trial. After the trial, the estimated annual cost is $249,000. Three drones would be stationed citywide and automatically dispatched to certain 911 calls (e.g., fires, accidents, crimes in progress, missing persons). Discussion covered data retention (video held 180 days if not part of a case, then deleted; managed by Motorola servers), privacy concerns, Fourth Amendment considerations, and potential liability. The trial would include KPIs to evaluate success. Councilmember Beeson expressed a need for more information before final approval. Motion to move forward unanimous.
- Items 3–9: Code Enforcement Ordinance Initiations: Community Development Director Michelle Alexander presented five amendments to the Unified Development Code (UDC) and two to the Code of Ordinances. Proposed changes include: clarifying that parking on grass in front yards is not allowed; addressing commercial parking on grass; defining "occupied" for real estate signs to allow signs until a building is fully leased; prohibiting LED signage in storefront windows (currently not defined); clarifying that untagged vehicles are inoperable; and prohibiting bulky items in city dumpsters. Discussion focused on the real estate sign definition, with some councilmembers favoring more restrictive language (e.g., time limits) while others supported allowing signs as long as there are vacancies. Staff will research sign effectiveness and bring refined language. Motion to initiate all items (3-9) moved forward unanimously.
- Items 10–11: Horse Stable Non-Commercial on RS-18 Zoned Properties: Planning and Zoning Director Jenny Payton presented a proposed amendment to allow non-commercial horse stables on RS-18 zoned properties over 15 acres (only five parcels in the city qualify, including one on Russell Road where the owner wants to keep horses). The amendment would require minimum 15 acres, accessory building set back 100 feet (with buffer options). Current code only permits such stables on RS-30, RS-87, and AG-43 zones. Discussion included limits on number of horses (3 for first 2 acres, plus 1 per additional half acre), and clarification that commercial boarding would require a separate rezoning. Motion to initiate moved forward unanimously.
- Item 12: Blanket Approval for Intergovernmental Agreement with Fulton County: Director of Transportation Andy Flegger requested blanket approval for the mayor or city administrator to sign IGAs with Fulton County for waterline reimbursements on transportation projects. Motion moved forward unanimously.
- Item 13: 2026 Citywide Resurfacing Contract: Bids were opened that day. Nine bidders submitted proposals ranging from $5.2M to $7.1M. The budget is $5.9M. The lowest responsible bidder will be selected. List includes 46 roads (42 centerline miles) and park parking lots. Contractor must start within 30 days and complete roads within 120 days. Council requested better resident notification. Motion moved forward unanimously.
- Item 14: Contract Amendment for Winter Construction – Green Street Mobility Project: Staff received cost numbers that afternoon for completing the Green Street Mobility Project (phase one, from SR 9 to Cherry Way, including a multi-use trail and pedestrian-only plaza). The amendment would use Winter Construction, already building the parking deck, to expedite work. Funding comes from capital fund and allocated TSPLOST and GDOT funds. Motion moved forward unanimously.
- Item 15: Big Creek Trail Design Contract to Kimley Horn: Awarded through qualifications-based selection for $1,198,630 (federal Reconnecting Communities grant). The trail will run approximately 2 miles from Old Holcomb Bridge Road to Big Creek Park, 12-14 feet wide. Councilmember Zac recused himself due to employment. Discussion covered floodplain concerns and connection to other trails. Motion moved forward unanimously.
- Item 16: Discussion of Public Records Policies: City Administrator Knighton and Assistant City Attorney Cusack led a discussion on two topics: (1) allowing anonymous open records requests (currently prohibited by a 2023 resolution requiring identification) and (2) creating a public portal where fulfilled requests would be posted. Councilmembers expressed varied views. Several supported allowing anonymous requests, citing First Amendment concerns and whistleblower protections. Others noted potential abuse (e.g., AI bots, non-payment). Regarding payment, state law allows prepayment only for requests over $500; under that, the city can invoice but cannot withhold documents until paid. Some councilmembers favored allowing anonymous requests with a requirement for prepayment regardless of amount. On the public portal, most agreed it could be useful for hot topics but warned of administrative burden and risks of exposing sensitive information inadvertently. Staff will draft a resolution incorporating feedback, potentially separating the anonymity and portal issues.
Key Outcomes
- All consent items and discussion items (2-15) were moved forward to future council meetings via unanimous votes.
- Item 16 (public records) resulted in no formal vote; staff will craft a resolution for future consideration based on council discussion.
Meeting Transcript
So the climate looking good. All right, if we can assemble we will begin our committee meetings in exactly one minute. One minute we will begin our committee meetings. Just a moment. I'm Randy Knighton, the city administrator, along with the Deputy City Administrator, Mr. Joe Q Sack, and along with Michelle Miller. The executive assistant to the council. And also the deputy city clerk. And we certainly welcome everybody to our meeting this evening. The purpose of committee meetings are for the city departments to convey information to mayor and city council and discuss initiatives listed on the published agenda as well as provide updates of vital information essential for the operation of city government. By ordinance, the committee consists of the mayor and members of the city council as well as the city administrator. And this is a public meeting, but not a public hearing. Therefore, while we certainly welcome members of the public who are in attendance this evening, uh we do not generally take public comments or questions during committee meetings. Public comments and questions are of course received on the second and fourth Monday of each month in our city council meetings, as well as the fifth Monday in open form. And we do encourage residents to reach out to our city staff for any questions or needs, concerns that you may have. We also encourage you to view Roswell365.com for a calendar of events. And we certainly welcome those questions and comments from the residents of Roswell and businesses at Roswell. The first item on the agenda is the approval of the committee meeting minutes for February 24th, 2026. Do we have a motion? Motion by Mayor Robichot. We have a second on the minute, second by Councilmember Brumley. Any further discussion? All right. Seeing none all in favor? All right, that passes unanimously. Thank you very much. The first item on the regular agenda, item number two, consideration to enter into a new agreement with Brink B R I and C Brink and Motorola Solutions for a trial drone as first responder. Initiative takeoff program, and that will be presented by our police chief, uh Mr. James Conroy and our 911 director, John Potrabowski. Outstanding. That's perfect. Got it. All right. Good evening. All right, thank you. So this is a consideration to enter into agreement with Brink and Motorola Solutions for a trial program for a drone as a first responder program. What it would be is a six-month implementation and then one year at no charge to the city. After that, the approximate cost would be about 249,000. And that's an estimate. It would be based upon what we discovered during that first year trial, if it is a solution that we want to proceed with. Gives us an opportunity for one year to try this program. What is a drone as a first responder? What it is is when we get a 911 call, we would have right now three drones stationed throughout the city, one on each end, and then one towards the center of the city, and it would be dispatched automatically to certain calls for service. Um vehicle accidents, crimes in progress, missing persons, situations, uh fires, uh, any fire call and a fire alarm call. It would be automatically dispatched, and that's something we could adjust that list as well. Some of our neighbors, uh City of Brookhaven police has been doing this for a number of years. They're one of the leaders in this industry. And Sandy Springs started a very similar drone program uh two weeks ago to where this program is. And what it is, the drone launches immediately goes to that incident location and gives us video imagery of what's going on. Uh, I use an example that I've told many of you when we had um the youth day parade, we were testing our drones in the parking lot showing them to the kids, and we got a call of a house fire in the area.
openpublica.com