Council approves agreement to build public safety training campus
The Atlanta City Council approved legislation Wednesday authorizing a ground lease agreement with the Atlanta Police Foundation to build a public safety training campus on City-owned property located on Key Road (Legislative Reference №21-O-0367). The ordinance, adopted on a 10–4 vote, states the Atlanta Police Foundation will develop the facility on 85 acres with the remaining 265 acres preserved as greenspace for ecological habitat restoration and public access.
The Council also adopted legislation requesting the Atlanta Department of Transportation and Atlanta Fire Rescue Department assess streets surrounding all existing and planned senior facilities to determine the need for appropriate traffic safety measures (Legislative Reference №21-R-3812).
Other items approved by the Council include:
• An ordinance ratifying the mayor’s executive order authorizing an emergency procurement agreement not to exceed approximately $1.57 million with the United Way of Greater Atlanta to administer support to low-income households through the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program (Legislative Reference №21-O-0651).
• An ordinance authorizing a donation in an amount not to exceed $12,700 from the Council District 8 consulting/professional services and carry forward accounts to the Atlanta Police Foundation to assist in the purchase of a PTZ QUAD Camera for Chastain Park (Legislative Reference №21-O-0652).
• An ordinance amending the City of Atlanta’s ethics code to require annual ethics training for all full-time, part-time and contract employees and require employees to attest to an ethics pledge to adhere by the City’s standards of conduct (Legislative Reference №21-O-0501).
• A resolution encouraging the City of Atlanta’s municipal clerk/election superintendent to disseminate pertinent information regarding Atlanta’s general municipal election to residents through mailers, social media, and innovative partnerships with other City departments (Legislative Reference №21-R-3818).
• A resolution requesting the mayor authorize the Department of Human Resources to conduct a thorough but emergent review of mental health services provided to City of Atlanta employees and to propose a plan to allocate additional funding of resources to programs for employees in need of mental health services. This item was immediately adopted.
Items introduced to be considered in committee next week include:
• A resolution to establish the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center Community Stakeholder Advisory Committee for the purpose of continued community engagement and input in the development of the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center Property.
• An ordinance to rezone certain property near the Bankhead MARTA station to Mixed Residential Commercial/Beltline Overlay to encourage transit-oriented development and provide affordable housing.
• An ordinance to amend the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances related to requirements and compliance for providing on-site, long-term affordable units for housing developments in the Beltline Overlay District.
• An ordinance to amend the City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances to require that all elected officials and part-time, full-time, and contract employees be required to undergo LGBTQ cultural humility training on an annual basis.
• An ordinance to establish the mayor’s Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and to authorize the chief financial officer to create the appropriate department organizations and to anticipate and appropriate the necessary funding in connection with the creation of the office.
