2026-02-24 · City Council · Minutes · Work Session Meeting · Minutes

Stockbridge When Community Connect CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING SUMMARY MINUTES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24. 2026 6:00 PM. Miler & 6'3 Corr May 'Jay'den L. Councilmemb re C La "ucil Distrizt 1 District 2 CcurvflmentieerArt-m Councilmembe: Kyle E. , , Sr. ' 'l District 3 oil District 5 Qulnbcn We sr Megan l.'.cC gtcn - Cilv .. y Ass:c-a:e Attorney Mission: To provide visionary leadership and superior municipal services that enhance the quality of life for citizens while creating a welcoming business atmosphere focused on sustainability and expansion of tourism and cultural events. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Williams a16:30 pm. Invocation was led by Councilmember Berry. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance. "Ce-m .5 (9;: 1a s :as isosi. Scuncilmerrbe' 3m: to alcw rare i'e as age.- 35 t: and the Lee Street name . . v; M 5 Es.- .ser. slic sert ac iIPage 16 affected property owners and advertisements placed in the Henry Herald with the required 15-day waiting period. Motion to approve the =ebruary 9, 2026 City Council Summary Minutes was made by Mayor Pro Tern Alexander; Seconded by Councilmember Berry. The motion passed unanimously 4-0. There were three public comments. Residents from Duval Drive addressed concerns about the Rock Quarry Road Extension project. Jack Pepe t'r. of 115 Duval stated that he had received materials on his mailbox showing a street for over 50 proposed route through his street, noting that Duval had been a years. He expressed concern that this was the such a plan. time residents had seen or heard of Senna Barge of 122 :uval :rive questioned whether the Rock Quarry extensior would come doom Duvel Zrive, expressing confusion about the project plans and seeking on what was being prozosed, is a Boobs of 119 :uval :rive, a 50-year resident, emphasized that :uval length. '-le expressed narrow street where tr a double ye":w line doesn't extend the full noted that over the 25 years the Rock Quarry 1 was always planned to go past city prc;erty to meet Road extension Llad been discussed, concerns about quality of life impacts and Valley Hill Road, not through Duval Drive. Bobbs questioned why residents 'ewived only about impacts on small chilcren in the two hours' notice before the meeting and in transactions and progress. property neighborhood Ccuncilmember Barber assured the residents that their concerns would 'ze addressed during the Rock Quarry =toad Extension agenda item later in tire meeting. EXECUTIVE SESSION Motion to enter executive session for real estate. personnel, cyber security, and fitigation was made by Councilmember Ferry. seconded by Mayor Pro Tern Alexander. :iscussion: Councilmember Barber pointed out that executive session is usually held at the end of tl'e meeting. Since several homeowners on Duval :rive have socken smut the they receives, she proposed moving the executive session back tc the end of the agenda to address their concerns. Councilmember Eerry rescinded his motion to adjourn into executive session. Discussion: Mayor 3ro 'ern Alexander asked mover: to the to; of the meeting. as to why executive session was was given by City Attorney Washington that it was to meet with the real estate attorney. Motion to move executive session to right above mayors comments after new business was made by Councilnzemioer Bony; sewnded by Councilmember Barber. "'he motion passed unanimously 4-0. NEW BUSINESS Council cons'deratlon to approve the Norfolk Southern Lease Agreement. 9th meeting as noted in the agenda adoption. This item was tabled until the ZIPage Council consideration to approve Task Order No. 2025.16 with Falcon Design - Preliminary Rock Quarry Road Extension. Public Works Director Decius Aaron introduced the item, stating that previously when they discussed the Rock Quarry Road extension, there were several options, but city council was that "the adamant about not disrupting any families or homes. Mr. Aaron preferred route is from North Henry Eoulevard terminating at Old Conyers Road. *hat is the route that council agreed on and that's the route that we will be pursuing. It will not go down would go to Old Conyers Road." Duval Erive. Alexander asked several times as to how this item made it on the agenda prior to the Retreat. Mayor Pro "'em Alexander also expressed concern that someone had put Coors. out misinformation but ciarifred that no one from the city put anything on projects with existing funding, Mr. Aaron excisined that this was one of the i an: '. .9 fruit" to create a shovel-ready project for future federal, state, other funding opportunities. He also that Mr. Price was asked to return to present the routes and concepts discussed in a previous meeting. asked does the city have the money to complete the project citing that it's which Stir. Aaron stated although we do cost between 9-0 to $50 million dollars. the preliminary plans and design for is item this for the the e project now, money A c which will allow any future projects to secure anding in which to build the road. Ccuncilmem'cer Eerry commented that during a city council meeting in or December 2025, they tasked Falcon Eesign with coming back to present certain information ' wit 80 to SD c'ays. ir'e assumes that this is the to that recuest. clarified that the city council is not making a decision or allocating funding; rather. they are looking for a concept of the layout or plan that outlines potential routes they could take. Adam Brice managing partner with Falcon Design presented the preliminary engineering proposal, explaining that they were showing only the route to Cld Sonyers Road. because theDuval route had been eliminated after council said they did not want that route. z"ice noting 'there's a potential that we might have to do a bridge to cross this. And of course that can be very expensive, but don't know that until ' get through preliminary engineering." described crossing a creek (unidentified) with a large to share with the Vlr. arice then showed the proposed route on screen, explaining, did to go that route. .vant n3t said Council eliminated. was :uvai residents. 'hat they So from what you see here is gust a route to Old Conyers." Price empnasized that the Juval been completely er'minated: "The Duvatl option is not on the table and rot going option to be analyzed. gust so everybody knows." 7rice outlined the engineering challenges, particularly focusing on the creek crossing. l-e mentioned that a arcpcsal is needed to advance to preliminary ering in order to gain I noted severe me. the age, crossing this understanding of potential costs. a challenge due to the ia'ge by my the stream is visibie as well. .t is and the mark lines dark "he it. floodplain, surrounding to spam this creek, which could be quite possible that we may need to construct a bridge cost estimate until we complete the expensive. -.cwever, won't have a oreiminary engineering phase." a SIPage He explained that the preliminary engineering phase would provide better cost estimates: "And at that point. this is what this proposal does it gets you to the point where. hey. I got a really good idea of what this is going to cost now. And then ifthe council at that point says. shovel ready plans that 2 can take it to engineering and be hey, okay, we want done." Councilmember Alexander asked about preliminary cost estimates, and Price around $40 million, but acknowledged they had been "spitballing" previously with noted: "when you're talking about a bridge, that's millions of dollars right there. if you don't have to do a bridge. it can save you millions," Alexander expressed his view on timing and property acquisition. Price that is part of the preliminary engineering stage. Alexander then discussed potential phased implementation. mentioning the new Tim access to the development and asking about building the first section to amphitheater and mixed-use develoarnent. Community Development Director Ryan there was an approved plan for 33 units of townhomes and single Anderson family residences behind the Tim 4cncns location. Alexander emphasized that the But-a. route has Pei/er been a preferred route and on East Atlanta objective is to provide a bypass to alleviate that the Road. Regarding timeline. Price estimated that even with funding available immediately, "you be able to start construction on this probably for upwards of 2 years, And probably that's in a perfect scenario." that no city staff had distributed information to residents, Alexander wanted asking city staff, anybody from the city put anything on these folks' doors? Anybody no city personnel had from the city?" Eoth Ryan Anderson and Decius Aaron done so. been Councilmember Barber then spoke extensive y in support of the project. advocating for this project to move forward for at least 3 years." She explained, "it's in the ' district that represent. homeowners hold me accountable for their quality of Barber detailed the impact of the amphitheater, citing that it brings thousands of people to the downtown area, and the hornet-Where as affected by it. stating "So. absolutely. suppzrt anything that's going to provide some relief, relief to homeowners who live in the area." Barber expressed strong support for moving fonuard: "i know this task order before us is for the design phase of $157 9C3. absolutely support moving fcrward with the design." ' She asked about the time me and requested that Aaron and Price bring a completion time'ine ifthe task order was approved to the panning retreat. the scope and cost, stating, ""his estimate is only for the preliminary design, which will help us determine the overall cost. "'he design will indude the bridge and Price other elements. I optec not to inciuie the design in this estimate because we want to assess whether a bridge is necessary. 4|Page Our goal is to design without a bridge, but if needed, we will include it, The total cost should not exceed 25 percent of your budget and will be well below $2 million." Barber concluded by noting the potential for federal and state funding ifthe designs are completed. Councilmember Berry emphasized the need for a phased implementation of the project: "This project needs to be can'ied out in phases. It won't be an overnight situation." He mentioned that this plan was created based on the original agreement everyone reached. However. we also need to take a step back and recognize that we can approach it in phases. We can tackle sections of the project as we secure funding, but it's essential to pfan for these phases - Alexander reiterated his support for the project, noting he had worked with former City However. he preferred discussing it Manager Knightcn to put this project in the thoroughly at the upcoming retreat Where they would have hours to taik about it in detail rather than the limited time that evening. Vctien to approve "ask Crder Number 2025.16 for Falcon Desig: for the preliminary design . in the amount cf $167,900 was made by Councilmember of Rock Quarry Road Es'ber; seccnzled 1.2, c. :iscussicn: \tayor . ro Tern Alexander. Alexander steed that there is $2 million dollars set aside and hopefully some of the funding can be used for other projects such as improving a street section at Ceresa :rive. "its motion passed unanimously 4-0. Council consideration authorizing the City Treasurer/CFO to make arrangements to reimburse Henry County in reference to TSPLOST. City Treasurer/CFO Frank 'Iilazi explained that in 2021, following the TSPLCS" passage, the City of Stockbridge committed through Resolution 21-233 to contribute $4 million toward Rock Quarry Roar; widening construction costs. County had begun construction ard of this obligation. requested Wazi recommended a payment scheduie of $2 million in 2026, $1 million in 2027, and the r1illicn at project comcietion in 2328. This timeline aligned with the county's projected 2.5Fyear construct: scnedule. Councilmember Barber clarified that this Rock Quarry Road Widening project, which terminates at North l- enry 3: .ilevard, is oifferert from the Rock Quarry Road Extension project that was just previously discussed in "the meeting. Alexander expiained that voter approval of the one-cent sales tax enabled that Stockbridge's $4 million the Rock Quarrv Road widening project. be Vayor Pro contribution camoinec with nenry County's $30 million investment and {EB-CT funding would Boulevard. create a four-tans road "rom Eagles Handing parkway to North The project wouid include a 10-foot multi-use path on one side, a 5-foot sidewaik on the and new street lighting and further compared the multi-use path to the other, Atlanta Beltline. 5|Page Alexander emphasized that the current TSPLCST would expire at year's end, with voters that future transportation c'eciaing whether to approve continuation. 4e inciuding projects Like :uval :nve paving, would depend, on TSPLOST renewal approval. Alexander 'u'ayor Williams war-tinned that '1e, COL-neilmember C'Qed, and Mayor Pro with staff, an the Rack Quar'y exnansion would be a has recently tourec SDCT prime example displayed across the State. City Treasurer/CFO to make Errengements to to the ~se 13-1: Jeunty in p'cject forthe Rock Quarry Road of $2 n in 2326. in the 2327, and t-1e 'ast million at the r 3erry; seconded by in 2025 was wade L7; 33:7,... 1 cfthe A c... Cancilmember Cloud. 'he :zaticn passed uranimcusly 4-9 3' ticn to approve authorization . . EXECUTIVE SESSION ' rim to en: ._ made by was exec! sessicr: for real .ia; Tern * :escreeq cyber and litigation Lee, by Scencilmember Sen-y. "in fiction passer. unanimoual; 4-6. scnezuled wcrk session was made ey and "mum t: to end . Ten Meander. secznczec L": Cour-cine" Ta mailer. passe: Berry. 5-2. "here was no announcement from exe;-tlve session. ms) 'he History Month event Mayer Mlliams an: :unoed renaming events, acted residents to foliew the city's Center, an. 3:1 Sunday at MAYOR'S COMMENTS (Mayor Jayden L. n . . scciai media and website for undatss. ANNOUNCEMENTS 0F UPCOMING MEETINGS 5. EVENTS ' ' ilmember ' 'n the announoec a Clergy meeting for "Qcorn at City -ail. March 2nd at . . ADJOURNMENT Trio" to the meeting at 6:14 :.m. was ac'e by Ccncif-nember Berry. The motion passed .x'animsgly 5-3 Sassendfe Lasts: interim City Chew Williams, seconded by