THE CITY OF REIDSVILLE REGULAR CITY COUNCIL PLANNING SESSION MINUTES MONDAY JULY 10, 2023 DRAFT COPY The regularly scheduled planning session of the Reidsville City Council was held Monday July 10, 2023 at 5:00pm at the Reidsville City Hall Council Meeting Room. Members of Council present were: Curtis Colwell- Mayor Carolyn Blackshear-Mayor Pro Tem Lindsay Bennet-COuncilwoman (absent) Donald Prestage-Counclman Douglas Willams-Counciman (absent) Verdie Wilams-Counclwoman Duann Davis, City Attorney, Nivea Jackson, City Clerk, and Kelly McRae, Finance Clerk were all present in their respective roles. The meeting was called to order by the Mayor and a prayer was given over the meeting. The room recited the Pledge of Allegiance in unison. The Mayor went right into the planning session agenda. The Mayor is asking Duann Davis, Attorney, to brief the Council on the upcoming dilapidated properties. Davis is updating the Council on the property located next to Sue's Rentals Realty office. It is an old dilapidated home owned by the Bobby Collins estate. Burns property. Jimmy Burns will be taken to court on August 15th 2023. The Council is currently imposing a fine for having a property with SO much dilapidation to encourage the owner to make the property safe. Donald Prestage is asking about the Church St property. Davis advises that the new property owners are still making repairs to the property. The Mayor directs Councilman Doug Williams to speak about the Valdosta State University Downtown Development Conference attended by the councilman, Devin Jarriel, Earnest Armstrong, Zoning board members Steven Richardson and Ray Joyce. Councilman Williams and the team endured an educational planning session with a GMA mentor. It is noted that the Downtown Development members were asked to attend and because of scheduling conflicts members could not attend. The Mayor organized an alternate group led by Doug Williams. The City will see future results from this opportunity as GMA wants to present the project upcoming. Next on the agenda, Artiffany Stanley was given the floor to present the Council with an exit briefing and final summary of the Council Retreat that some of the members of the Council and Mayor attended. Stanley noted that she reached out to each Council, Mayor, and key staff members to facilitate discussions that was important to this Council, Mayor, and staff. There was an attorney present during the training to explain iabilities with the City. Mrs. Staley noted that those present felt that all of the Council, the City Attorney, and key members of the City's staff would benefit from hearing the class on liabilities and exposure. Political controversy, high risk issue, property and liability claims and insurance risks. Common pitfalls found among City governments, social media policies, policies and procedures, and best practices. Benefits of being a GMA member City was explained. A total synopsis was given in writing to each Council member. Mrs. Stanley informed the meeting that City Charter review was encouraged for the Council. Stanley notes that the Charter is the City's "Bible" on how it operates and what the government here looks like. Laws change all of the time. Roles change, update, or may need modification, according to what your City needs. These updates should be reflected in not only the City's charter but Personnel policy as well. It was discussed in detail the Council, Mayor, and staff's roles and responsibilities in charter changes. Personnel Policies should reflect what is in the City's charter. Both should be kept up to date and should be looked at yearly if not every 2-3 years. Next, discussed, with Council at training was elections, Wards and Posts, updating elections maps and the process for completing this task. New ordinances and resolutions should be added and disbursed to Council. One example given is to update the language of the charter. The Council and Mayors historically are referred to as he in older charters. It should be updated with more inclusion and equality. A newer Council may mean a "fresh set of eyes" over the last Council and can lend updates. It was asked if the Council could "hire" an outside Attorney to assist in updating the Charter by the City Clerk. Mrs. Stanley answered that would be up to Mayor and Council. Finally, "Rules of Decorum" was taught and encouraged for the Council to use in future meetings to establish more timely and effective meetings. Following the rules will insure the City's business moves forward. Open Meetings, Open Records Request, City of Civility and Roles and Responsibilities were also discussed at length. Mrs. Stanley invited the Council to plan another retreat in hopes of a full Council and key staff turn out. Stanley encouraged the City to attend the Small Cities Conference in August. A big announcement and a lot information about the EPD service line regulation will be discussed. Grant Resources and Regional Commission will be on site. Sessions on budget and finance and ARPA are available. Next the Mayor asked if the Council wanted to discuss about the impending closing of Cadence bank. Councilwoman Blackshear asked that it be tabled until next week. Deposits and logistics have to be worked out. Kelly McRae, Finance Clerk, who also has experience in finance advises the Council that this would be a huge undertaking. It is nothing to be taken lightly. The Mayor asks for the Council to give it some thought for next week. Next Duann updates the Council that she is still working on the lease agreement with the Airport and County attorney on the Animal shelter lease. The Mayor received a Special event request from Stacey Coley. Questions were asked about the nature of her event. Duann advises there was a special event form that needed to be voted in. Council was given a 3 page application for review. There is a provision of liability exclusion for the City. The reason for the new application is to ascertain more information about events in the City that need Council review. Next topic of discussion was the inspection request for the old City shop aka the National Guard Armory. Councilman Prestage is seeking to get an inspection SO the building can either be sold or demolished. The City Attorney agrees that an inspection should be completed and is required regardless of what decision is made for the property. Councilman Prestage reminds everyone he has an open motion on that inspection. He advises that we sell the property. Next the topic of direct deposit was discussed. This topic was tabled until a confirmed count of the staff can be polled. Nivea Jackson is informing the Council about the United Healthcare Benefit Card that citizens can use to pay their waterbill. They have a prepaid card that can be used. Dates to remember were discussed and City wide cleanup was discussed. Meeting was adjourned at 5:43