Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Historic Preservation█████████████████████████████████████████41%
Land Use Planning████████████████████20%
Arts And Culture████████8%
Economic Development████████8%
Budget Equity Analysis███████7%
Technology and Innovation██████6%
Procedural████4%
Community Engagement███3%
Transportation Safety█1%
Summary of Proceedings
Roswell City Committee Meeting - October 27, 2026
The City of Roswell held its committee meetings on October 27, 2026, at 8:44 PM ET. Present were Mayor Mary Robichell, Councilmembers Sarah Beeson, Aaron Brumley, Christine Hall, Alan Sells, and Christopher Zack, along with City Administrator Randy Knight, City Attorney Joe Cusack, and Deputy City Clerk Rachel Reigns. The committee reviewed and moved forward several items, including a flooring replacement contract, vehicle financing, style guide updates, zoning text amendments, and a right‑of‑way agreement with Google Fiber.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the September 29, 2026 committee meeting were approved unanimously.
Discussion Items
- Flooring Replacement at the Cultural Arts Center (Item 2): Director of Recreation Parks Historic and Cultural Affairs Mr. Malone presented a proposal to replace approximately 9,500 square feet of carpet in high‑traffic areas with commercial‑grade luxury vinyl tile (LVT) at a contract amount of $99,279.30 (total project authorization $102,200.70). The LVT comes with a 15‑year warranty and is funded from the hotel‑motel fund. Councilmember Beeson inquired about per‑square‑foot cost ($7.54) and the use of Prime Contractors via a state consortium. Mr. Malone explained that using the state contract allows a holiday‑season shutdown to minimize disruption; going to bid would delay the project until summer 2027. Concerns about sound abatement were raised; Mr. Malone noted that the theater and breezeway will retain carpet. The project was moved forward unanimously.
- Vehicle & Equipment Financing (Item 3): Finance Director Adam Novotney presented a financing lease with the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) for nine replacement vehicles and equipment, not to exceed $1,034,238, at 4.3% interest over five years. The list was reduced from 14 vehicles after a fleet strategy review. Councilmember Hall asked about disposal of replaced vehicles (surplused). Councilmember Beeson questioned vehicle efficiency and take‑home use; fleet services confirmed assessments and no take‑home vehicles. Councilmember Sells clarified that the agreement is effectively a dollar‑purchase financing (ownership at end). Total payments over five years would be about $1.17 million. Motion to move forward passed unanimously.
- Historic District Style Guide Presentation (Item 4): Community Design Manager Alan Buchan presented a 90‑page style guide intended to provide visual specifications and character‑area guidance for the historic district (Canton Street, Warehouse District, Town Square, Mill Village). The guide is meant to reduce subjectivity, speed reviews, and create a public‑facing repository of materials and finishes. Next steps include adoption by the Historic Preservation Commission on November 12, 2026, and a three‑month evaluation period after publication. Councilmember Hall praised the guide and asked about public input (workshops and contact information will be available). Councilmember Brumley raised concerns about stifling creativity; Mr. Buchan explained that the guide sets clear parameters that still allow creativity. Councilmember Sells asked about specifying manufacturers; Mr. Buchan noted that the district‑wide specifications are for city‑used items, while character‑area guidance focuses on look and feel. This was a presentation only, with no vote.
- Text Amendment to Reference Historic District Style Guide (Item 5): Planning and Zoning Director Jenny Payton proposed amendments to UDC sections 1.4, 9.7.15, 13.6, and 13.7 to formally reference the style guide. Councilmember Zack requested a clause ensuring the UDC supersedes the style guide in case of conflict. Motion to move forward passed unanimously.
- Text Amendment on Sign Illumination in Historic Overlay District (Item 6): Ms. Payton presented a proposal to clarify definitions of sign illumination. The amendment would classify backlit signs as internally illuminated (banned in the historic district) and require separate external fixtures. Examples of external illumination (allowed) and internal/backlit (disallowed) were shown. Councilmembers Hall and Mayor Robichell expressed concern about a blanket ban, noting that the style guide’s character areas might allow backlit signs in the Warehouse District. Councilmember Beeson noted confusion between the style guide’s “districts” and the UDC’s zoning districts. The item was combined with Item 7 for further refinement.
- Text Amendment on Sign Variances in Historic Overlay District (Item 7): Ms. Payton proposed allowing mayor and council to hear sign‑code variances within the historic overlay district (currently limited to setback/building material via BZA). Discussion included the need to align with the style guide’s character areas. Councilmember Sells stressed the importance of full red‑line documents for clarity. A motion by Councilmember Beeson, seconded by Mayor Robichell, moved both items forward with directives to: (1) provide a full section red‑line for the next reading, (2) improve visual presentation of the UDC changes, (3) explore mechanisms to incorporate style guide neighborhoods into variance considerations. Motion passed unanimously.
- Google Fiber Right‑of‑Way Agreement (Item 8): City Attorney Joe Cusack presented a non‑exclusive license agreement with Google Fiber allowing them to file encroachment permits for fiber installation. The city will receive 2% of gross revenues (negotiated from an initial 1%), with a performance bond higher than Google’s initial proposal and a 10‑year term with renewal options. Councilmember Sells confirmed the city has audit rights. Motion to move forward passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Item 2 (Flooring replacement): Motion to move forward passed unanimously.
- Item 3 (Vehicle financing): Motion to move forward passed unanimously.
- Item 5 (Style guide UDC reference): Motion to move forward passed unanimously.
- Items 6 & 7 (Sign illumination and variances): Combined motion to move forward with specific directives passed unanimously.
- Item 8 (Google Fiber agreement): Motion to move forward passed unanimously.
- No votes were taken on Item 4 (Style Guide presentation) as it was informational only.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening. We will begin in thirty seconds. Yeah. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to our committee meetings for October twenty-seventh, twenty twenty-six. Our elected body, uh, present mayor Mary Robichell, Councilmember Sarah Beeson, Councilmember Aaron Brumley, Councilmember Christine Hall, Councilmember Alan Sells, Councilmember Christopher Zack, I am Randy Knight and the City Administrator along with City Attorney, Joe Cusack and Deputy, City Clerk Rachel Reigns. The purpose of these committee meetings, of course, is to provide updates of vital information to the mayor and council, and to discuss items, which will be listed on our formal agenda by ordinance. The committee consists of the mayor and council as well as the city administrator who serves as chair of committee meetings. They're taken at our regular city council meetings in the second and fourth Monday of each month as well as the fifth Monday and open forum. The first item on the agenda is the approval of the minutes for the September 29th 2026 committee meeting. Uh approval by or motion by uh Mayor Robichau. We have a second from Councilmember Brumley. Um, any further discussion? All in favor? Thank you. That passes unanimously. Um, and on our regular agenda, item number two is listed. Consideration for the mayor or city administrator to award a contract to prime contractors in the amount of 99,700 or 99,279.30 cents for flooring replacement at the Cultural Arts Center with a total project authorization of 102,200 and 70 cents. That will be presented by uh Mr. Malone, the director of Recreation Parks Historic and Cultural Affairs. Yes, sir. Thank you so much for having me. Um tonight's item is the replacement of the carpeted areas within the Cultural Arts Center in Roswell. We are proposing the replacement of approximately 9500 square feet of carpeted area in and around our high traffic areas of that center with the luxury vinyl tile, which is LVT. It's a commercial uh product that we're using. It's always fun to show some of the pictures that we have. These are some of the current carpeted areas throughout that center. Uh, just for reference, we average several thousands of visitors into this center each month with an approximate average of about 50,000 guests that come through this center each year. Uh the proposal would be again to replace the carpeted areas in the main foyer as well as the two hallways and meeting rooms with a uh commercial grade luxury vinyl tile. This gives you a good little uh computer generated image of what it would look like with that luxury vinyl tile. Uh, it's more durable in those high traffic areas, it's low maintenance, improved experience, meaning it looks cleaner, more professional, and long term it gives us uh more length out of the product. Uh, this product specifically will come with a 15-year warranty for both material and installation, which is huge when it comes to this project. Uh, to give you a little bit of the scope, uh, again, just replacing all the existing carpet. We're using a state consortium contract with prime contractors. The reason we're doing that is we need to shut the facility down in order to do the repairs. The most viable option to do that this year will be during the holiday season. So we are trying to get that in uh within that window so that we limit the shutdown time for this facility to get the repairs done. Uh timeline again this winter when we can shut it down and the funding again contract amount 99,279.30 cents funded out of the hotel motel fund. Happy to answer any questions you have. Thank you, Mr. Malone. Questions? Councilmember Beeson. Romney. Sorry, I'm trying to do quick math as you're talking.
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