CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
OCTOBER 21, 2024
DR. EMMANUEL ADEDIRAN CITY MANAGER
DR. EMMANUEL ADEDIRAN
From the Office of City Manager, City of College Park, Georgia
To the Mayor and Council, as well as College Park residents, neighbors, business owners and my colleagues with the City:
The work of a city is in many ways never done, however in these regular updates, I hope to provide you with some highlights, as well as a few insights, on how the many employees of your City of College Park are hard at work to serve you, as well as to build a better city.
Early Voting – Early voting began on Tuesday, October 15 and will continue through Friday, November 1, 2024, for the Tuesday, November 5, 2024, General Election. Details on Advance Voting Locations, the nearest Drop Boxes for Absentee Ballots as well as Saturday and Sunday voting can be found in the Recreation and Cultural Arts section of this report.
College Park Project Serve – After gathering dry goods, diapers, bottled water, toiletry items and other staples in need by Hurricane Helene batter communities, members of our College Park Police Department traveled to Wadley, Georgia (near Louisville, Georgia) with a caravan of care and a truckload full of donations. Nearly 200 area residents were on hand and greatly appreciated this city-to-city act of kindness. Special thanks and a salute to Major Dennard, Sergeant Dorsey, and Officers Gibbons and Poarch who both represented the city in this caravan as well as worked tirelessly to collect, pack, secure and transport these much-needed items of aid and sustenance during the trying aftermath of Helene.
Emergency Management-
College Park’s Fire Department partnered with Atlanta/Fulton County Emergency Management on October 16 to conduct emergency preparation and disaster, WebEOC Training. The training day focused on disaster response and making best use of the recovery tools available throughout the county, in event of a natural disaster or serious weather event.
These three departments and programs I highlighted are just a tiny sampling of the hundreds of actions each week by the approximately 440 employees of the City of College Park.
As our holiday season kicks off soon with Trunk or Treat and a myriad of other holiday and cultural events as we wrap up 2024, I hope you will join me in remembering that here in College Park we have so much to be thankful for.
Sincerely,
Dr. Emmanuel Adediran City Manager
City of College Park, Georgia
BUILDING AND PROPERTY SUSTAINABILITY
OCCUPATIONAL TAX DIVISION BY THE NUMBERS
The 2024 Alcohol License renewal season is underway. All approved businesses in the state of Georgia that have alcohol licenses must have a City of College Park alcohol license before selling alcohol within the city. Our team will work with Code Enforcement to issue any citations for those who are not in compliance with the ordinance. We start November 1, 2024.
Apartment Complex Meeting
The City of College Park Building and Sustainability Department Code Enforcement Division will be hosting an apartment complex meeting at our Public Safety Building on Thursday October 24, 2024 @ 9:00 AM. Located at 3717 College Street, College Park GA 30317 in our community meeting room.
The meeting will be held to ensure that everyone is aware of our new requirements for multi-family inspections and the impact of not getting these inspections will have on you doing business or obtaining your business license (Occupational Tax Certificate).
CONVENTION CENTER, ARENA AND GOLF ENTERPRISES
DIRECTOR’S OVERVIEW
September was a diversely active month for our campus, as we hosted events from the Atlanta Black Family Reunion, GaEtc, Weddings, Powerlifting competitions, the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Tournament, Delta TechOps meeting, Leadership conferences, Industry Dinners, Chick-fil-A, to the Southeast Reptile Show and the Pink Sneaker Breast Cancer Awareness Ball, and four Atlanta Dream games that led them to their first playoff. What a great season. CONGRATULATIONS Atlanta Dream!
The Georgia International Convention Center, Gateway Center Arena and the Historic College Park Golf Course reported the following year-to-date revenues. The Georgia International Convention Center reported YTD $2,367,178.03 which is 21.0% of the original adopted budget. The Gateway Center Arena reported YTD revenues are $680,923.07 which is 36.22% of the adopted budget. The Historic College Park Golf Course reported YTD $117,570.43 translating to 15.1% of the adopted budget.
Sales and Marketing:
Sites and bookings:
• Tentative contract for Microsoft hosting a 1500-person event April 6-9, 2025. $87,150 in rental and approximately 550 room nights for the market.
• New account: reVOLLution Volleyball requested contract for June 2026. Estimate 10,000 participants and 750 rooms per night expected for the market
• Two new Arena accounts: SCAD contract for May 2025 commencement at the Arena and Battle for the Rock basketball tournament Thanksgiving week 2026
Special Events:
Delta Q3 Lead
SE Reptile Expo
DMO President Cookie Smoak’s Retirement
Pink Sneaker Breast Cancer Ball
ELECTRIC POWER
STORM ASSISTANCE
College Park Power recently assisted other power companies in South Georgia by releasing their contract crews to assist the electric cooperatives for several weeks. The damages and power outages from Hurricane Helene are still being restored with much of the work underway to rebuild rather than repair.
Eighty percent of College Park Power’s workforce is from contracted crews which allows flexibility to add to the team or release crews if projects increase or decline. During the pandemic of 2020-2021, the construction crews were close to being released until the power department convinced the Clean Spark data center to expand and allow new circuits to be built. Clean Spark paid for all the cost. Keeping the crews then provided much needed assistance in case of a major storm power outage.
Contract crews are scheduled to return to their regular duties on October 21.
PUBLIC POWER WEEK
The first full week in October is national Public Power Week. Over 2000 municipal owned power companies including 52 in Georgia celebrate the benefits of public power and show appreciation to their employees. Public power companies are non-profit and are regulated by their local municipal government.
This year, College Park Power provided an Electric Power 102 training to the customer service team including showing team members the difference in power lines, a breakdown of KWH sales to customers, residential rate comparisons, fuse protection and what happens when a fuse blows, and a high voltage demonstration.
ENGINEERING
STAFF UPDATE
Applications have been reviewed, and a candidate has been selected for the GIS Coordinator position, which is anticipated to start on November 4th.
PLAN REVIEWS
FIRE RESCUE
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE FIRE
Department Recognition
The fire department recognizes our star performers that go above and beyond the typical call for service.
On October 9th, Fire Dispatch contacted Battalion Chief Madoshi Jones and asked, “Who do we call about an animal stuck in the sewer?” Someone called 911 to report the sounds of a cat coming from the sewer near Hospitality Way. Battalion Jones told dispatch that he would check it out. When Battalion Chief Jones arrived, he discovered that a kitten had fallen about 5’ down a commercial drainage pipe. The body of the kitten was partially submerged in water, with only the head visible. After several attempts to reach the kitten from the surface, Chief Jones requested assistance from the closest fire station. With the assistance of firefighters, the kitten was rescued and adopted by the citizen that called 911.
Excellent work Battalion Chief Madoshi Jones! Your commitment is an example of the great customer service and leadership shown by the department and the City of College Park.
4th Ward Festival
The fire department participated in the 8th Annual 4th Ward Festival. The recognition of Fire Prevention Week, participants learned valuable lessons in fire safety while learning fire protection skills.
HUMAN RESOURCES/RISK
MANAGEMENT
TRAINING
Joanne recent attended and represented the City of College Park at the annual the NeoGov – Ignite Conference that is designed for public sector and public safety professionals to build industry skills and knowledge through expert thought leadership, informative training, and networking opportunities. The conference allowed her to receive one-on-one product support and network with peers to gain insights and learn from others’ experiences.
Overall, the Ignite conference helped her better understand current issues and discuss solutions with like-minded organizations and HR professionals
PARKS, RECREATION AND CULTURAL ARTS
FULTON COUNTY EARLY VOTING
The Hugh C Conley Recreation Center is one of several locations for advance voting in metropolitan Atlanta. The Center will be a busy hub of activity now through November 1st. Not only will citizens be voting throughout the day, but the center will also welcome gymnasts in the College Park Tumbleweeds program back for classes. Conley is also the host sight for a variety of programs during the year including Dem Pearls, Qi Gong, and Flag Football just to name a few. The center also houses the administrative offices of the Recreation & Cultural Arts Department.
On October 2, 2024., Recreation Leader, Alexis “Bo” McMillan attended the Georgia Recreation Park and Association (GRPA) Field Maintenance Day at Cherokee Veterans Park in Canton, Georgia, where he gained valuable insights into the maintenance aspects of recreational facilities. Bo, like others, joined hundreds of Park and Recreation Maintenance professionals from around the state for this interactive day of education sessions and vendor exhibits. This was a FREE program for all GRPA members! Bo is a valuable member of the recreation staff as he leads the Youth Girls Basketball Program, Pickleball, and Women’s Kickball.
FRIENDSHIP FORMULAS PROGRAMMING
Friendship Formulas is a social skills programs that works with children between the ages of 3-10, with a focus in helping children with challenging behaviors, ADD, ADHD and Autism. In groups, we work on play skills (being a good sport, tolerating loss, and conflict resolution), communication skills (eye contact, expressing wants/needs, understanding emotions and how to express them appropriately, and role playing scenarios), Cooperation (following a schedule, and behavior expectations), initiation (time management, breaking down tasks, creating goals, and asking for help), and emotional regulation (controlling emotions, breathing tools, sensory work, exercise, and working through distractions). Our groups include fun activities on different topics utilizing play, exercise, science experiments, and art. For more information contact: info@friendshipformulas.com for any questions or visit the College Park Recreation & Cultural Arts Department website at https://www.collegeparkrca.com/friendshipformulas
PLANNING AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT
PLANNING AND GROWTH MANAGEMENT
Planning Commission
The September 30th Planning Commission meeting was called, but all items were postponed due to the lack of quorum due to emergency absences associated with the hurricane. The items for consideration were legally re-noticed in the South Fulton Legal publication, and the City Planner sent the required legal Public Hearing notification of the new hearing dates at Planning Commission and City Council to surrounding property owners.
Items on the upcoming October 28th Planning Commission include a public hearing to consider a Conditional Use Permit for a vape shop at 4843 Old National Highway in the International Plaza commercial center. The City Council recently approved the adoption of an ordinance to limit vape shops to the Community Business (C2) and Business Park (BP) districts subject to a requirement for a conditional use permit. Also on the agenda are a plat map subdivision approval and text amendments to the Zoning Code to require a Conditional Use Permit for extended stay hotels and limit their locations to the Hospitality Campus (HC) and Community Business (C2) Districts.
Board of Zoning Appeals
There were no applications to consider at the October 14th scheduled meeting. There are three (3) variance applications to be considered at the upcoming November 11th meeting. The legal notice has been submitted to South Fulton legals for the 10/24 publication.
Pre-Application Meetings, Use and Development Inquiries, Code Enforcement Support, Plat Maps, Business License Review, Zoning Confirmation Letters
• The City Planner continues to respond to inquiries and building permit applications regarding potential use of land, site development, stream buffer variance, potential rezoning, sign permit regulations, and preliminary review of renovations/additions.
• Continued coordination and meetings with the City Engineer and potential and existing applicants for plat map subdivision or consolidation, and preliminary development concepts.
• Continued support, research and information provision to Code Enforcement. Respond to City Council inquiries and concerns, research and work with City Attorney to resolve land use, code violations and nonconformance issues as they arise.
• Prepared 4 ZCLs to date in October, 6 in September
• Continued progress on bringing ORR reporting up to date
POLICE
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
PUBLIC WORKS
Building & Grounds: A Must Read!
Kudos to this remarkable team! Often pulled from one project to another, the Building & Grounds team has shown incredible versatility in managing their diverse roles. Over the past two months and most recently the last two weeks, they’ve been exceptionally busy. From dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, prepping for the annual City-Wide Ward IV Festival event, the College Park Police Departments annual Trunk or Treat, meeting requests, departmental interviews, sourcing for new vendors to meet the demands of the city, laying of 400 bales of pine straw, 3 pallets of mulch and sod, spraying pesticides over 25 acres of the city’s landscape, removal and return of the baseball bleachers for the Rodeo event, to the pick-up, set-up and return of over 500 chairs and over 200 tables for vendors –plus the clean-up and restoration efforts bringing our city back to normalcy – their efforts are unmatched.
Highway, Streets and Storm Water
Another department that has put in equally impressive work, is the Highway, Streets and Storm Water division. They’ve managed the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, particularly dealing with the many fallen trees. This team has been instrumental in supporting the Building & Grounds team with the City-Wide Ward IV Festival. Besides that, they’ve conducted interviews, collaborated with Engineering and Legal, and met with contractors to solidify the construction related to the upcoming 2024 LMIG Resurfacing project. This division of Public Works truly never stops. Additional projects can be viewed below. (See below building of parking of additional parking on Riverdale Road, Global Parkway)
A request to paint the curbside at John Calvin Avenue and the installation of residential parking only signs to prevent illegal parking.
CITY MANAGER’S REPORT
OCTOBER 21, 2024