The Rome City Commission met at Monday October 10th in the City Commission Chambers of City Hall, 601 Broad Street. Mayor Stevenson presided with Commissioners Bojo, Beeman, Doss, Quick, Askew, Collins and McDaniel present. Mayor Pro Tem Cochran was absent. Commissioner Askew opened the meeting with prayer and led in the salute to the flag.


Minutes – September 26, 2022

The Minutes of the September 26, 2022, meeting, as submitted in writing by the Secretary, were approved by unanimous consent.
Domestic Violence Awareness Month Commissioner Bojo presented a proclamation proclaiming October 2022 as Domestic Violence
Awareness Month in the City of Rome. This proclamation was presented to Ms. Lynn Rousseau, Executive Director of the Hospitality House for Women, along with another staff member and Rome Police Chief Denise Downer – McKinney.


Ms. Rousseau briefly addressed the Commission regarding the mission of Hospitality House, as well as local events planned to raise awareness of domestic violence.

TigerFlight Foundation
Commissioner Quick presented a proclamation recognizing the TigerFlight Foundation for 20 plus years of service in our community. TigerFlight is the official flight team of Rome and Floyd County. This proclamation was presented to four members of TigerFlight.
Brief comments were made to the Commission explaining the core purpose of TigerFlight, which is to offer aviation support to our community and to provide aviation-based education for the youth.


Harry Brock and Victor Hixon – Certificates of Appointment
Commissioner Collins stated that Certificates of Appointment have been prepared for Mr. Harry Brock who was recently appointed to the Downtown Development Authority and Mr. Victor Hixon who is appointed as a City Representative to the Rome/Floyd Planning Commission. Neither Mr. Brock nor Mr. Hixon were present at tonight’s meeting.

Transit Planning Grant – 5303
City Manager Rich explained that the City of Rome is prepared to apply for a Section 5303 Transit Planning Grant. If awarded, this grant will be in the total amount of $77,337. With this being an 80-10- 10 arrangement, the City of Rome’s obligation will be $7,733.
Commissioner Askew moved to approve the 5303 Transit Planning Grant Application Resolution. Commissioner Collins seconded, and the vote was unanimously in favor.

Rezoning – First Reading
Secretary Smith announced that the following rezoning application is being placed on first reading: a) Z22-10-04 Request to rezone from Duplex Residential to Community Commercial for the property located at 406 Division Street, and John Davenport Drive and Division Street
properties; Floyd County Tax Parcels I13K-006, I13K-007, and I13K-008. (Planning Commission recommends approval, 9-0). A public hearing on this request is scheduled for the October 24th City Commission meeting.

Rome/Floyd Development Authority
Mayor Stevenson announced that the Rome/Floyd Development Authority will meet on Tuesday, October 18th at 10:00 a.m. at the Manis Business Center.


Finance Committee
Mayor Stevenson announced that the Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday, October 19th at 10:30 a.m. in the Sam King Room.
Public Works/Traffic/Transit Committee Mayor Stevenson announced that the Public Works/Traffic/Transit Committee will meet on Wednesday, October 12th at 10:00 a.m. in the Sam King Room.

GDOT Utility Agreement – Shorter Avenue
Commissioner Bojo announced that the Georgia Department of Transportation plans to pave Shorter Avenue from Floyd Hospital to Highway 100 within the next year. As a result of this paving project, the City of Rome will bear the cost of raising and resetting the utility manholes.
Commissioner Bojo moved to approve a GDOT utility agreement in the amount of $502,000 for this service. Commissioner McDaniel seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimously in favor.

Alcohol Control Commission
Commissioner Beeman announced that the Alcohol Control Commission will meet on Monday, October 17th at 5:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers.


Historic Preservation Commission
Commissioner Beeman announced that the Historic Preservation Commission will meet on Wednesday, October 19th at 2:30 p.m. in the Sam King Room.

Landmark Plaque Dedication
Commissioner Doss announced that on Thursday, October 20th a dedication ceremony will be held for the 2022 Landmark Sites. Five locations were chosen as landmark sites for this year, with those being:
· Chief John Ross Pedestrian Bridge – Chief John Ross
· Clocktower – 1st African American school
· Mrytle Hill Cemetery – African American Section
· Mitchell Plaza – Martin H. Mitchell
· Atrium/Floyd Medical Center – The Weaver Wing.

Commissioner Doss further explained that the City of Rome will have a bus departing City Hall at 11:00 a.m. on October 20th to visit 4 sites for the Landmark Plaque Dedication. He noted that Atrium/Floyd will place the Weaver Wing landmark inside their facility on their schedule.

Downtown Development Authority
Commissioner Quick announced that the Downtown Development Authority meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 13th has been canceled. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 10th at 8:30 a.m. in the Carnegie Training Room.

Fiddlin’ Fest
Commissioner Quick announced that the Rome Downtown Development Authority had an extremely successful Fiddlin’ Fest 2022. In addition to the perfect weather on Saturday, October 8th, there were in excess of 100 vendors, a large car show, and a huge crowd. Commissioner Quick thanked the entire DDA team for their efforts.

Community Development Committee
Commissioner Collins announced that the Community Development Committee will meet on Wednesday, October 12th at 8:30 a.m. in the Carnegie Training Room.


Deferred Compensation – 401a Match
Commissioner Collins announced that the General Administration Committee has recommended that the City of Rome increase the employee 401a Deferred Compensation match to 2.5%. Commissioner Askew seconded the motion. City Manager Rich explained the 401a match was at 2.5% until the recession of 2009 and 2010, at which point the contribution was lowered to 1.25%. The amount has slowly been increased recently and currently stands at 2%. Commissioner Collins motion to increase the match to 2.5% effective January 1, 2023, was unanimously
approved.


City Network and Connectivity Upgrade
City Manager Rich explained that the City of Rome would like to increase our connectivity regarding our City network at numerous City facilities. Comcast/Xfinity is prepared to install the necessary fiberoptic infrastructure to facilitate this connectivity. Mr. Rich recommends that the City use approximately $300,000 of ARPA funds for this project and that the long-term benefit will be increased
connectivity and lower reoccurring costs. Commissioner Collins moved to approve the expenditure of these funds for the connectivity project as explained. Commissioner Doss seconded the motion, and the vote was unanimously in favor.

Youth Council
Commissioner Collins announced that the concept of creating a Youth Council was discussed at the most recent General Administration Committee meeting. This topic will be on the Rome City Commission’s Retreat agenda planned for November 18th. The Rome City School Superintendent and Principal are invited to be part of this discussion. Commissioner Collins thanked Kelly Parker for her work on this project.

Northwest Georgia Regional Commission
Commissioner McDaniel announced that the Northwest Georgia Regional Commission meeting scheduled for Thursday, October 20th has been rescheduled to Wednesday, October 12th at 11:00 a.m. at the Rome Civic Center.

Rome/Floyd Parks and Recreation
Commissioner McDaniel announced that the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board will meet on Tuesday, October 18th at 12:00 p.m. at the Parker Center.


Lips Unchained Event
Mayor Stevenson announced that Lips Unchained will hold an event in North Rome on Saturday, October 15th from 3:00 until 6:00 p.m. This event is in association with Domestic Violence Awareness Month.