Votes at a glance: Smyrna council approves zoning changes, park and IT budget moves, and aquatic center contract

The Smyrna Mayor and Council took a series of unanimous actions Monday night, approving zoning requests, budget amendments, a professional engineering services contract for the Tolleson Park Aquatic Center, personnel reclassification, and consent items including a seasonal street closure.

Key votes and outcomes

- Rezoning Z25‑003 (2201 Dixie Avenue): Council approved reverting a property previously rezoned to MU back to Light Industrial conditional to allow a storage building. Planner Joey Saabs said the structure the applicant intended for residential use was removed and the owner now proposes storage. Councilman Lindley moved to pass; Councilman Pickens seconded. Vote: 6‑0 in favor.

- Authorization to amend FY2025 parks budget for heritage celebrations ($12,000): Council approved moving general‑fund money into the Heritage Celebrations budget line. Motion to pass by Mr. Oglesby; second by Mr. Gould. Vote: 6‑0 in favor.

- Reclassification and transfer of public safety systems administrator to IT (no change in pay grade): Council approved transferring the vacant public safety systems administrator position from the Police Department to Information Technology, reclassifying it to a system administrator within IT to form a systems team overseeing city software. Motion to pass by Councilwoman Hines; second by Mr. Oglesby. Vote: 6‑0 in favor.

- Professional engineering services for Tolleson Park Aquatic Center ($1,218,395): Council authorized a proposal from Corey Engineering (address read into the record) to provide design, permitting, pool architecture and related services to redevelop the Tolleson Park Aquatic Center, to be paid from the 2022 SPLOST. Parks and Recreation staff and Finance recommended authorization. Motion to pass by Councilman Lindley; second by Councilman Pickens. Vote: 6‑0 in favor. Council discussion noted geotechnical/cleanup steps and outlined planned facility features described by staff and mayor: a heated competition pool, recreational pool with lazy‑river component, a separate water slide and a zero‑entry area for small children; demolition debris removal and geotechnical work were discussed as immediate next steps.

- Authorization to amend ARPA playgrounds repairs and maintenance budget (+$7,500): Council approved a change order to a previously awarded contract to allow removal of trees that were discovered to be on city property during pre‑construction. Motion to pass by Mr. Gould; second by Mr. Lindley. Vote: 6‑0 in favor.

- Consent agenda (approved unanimously): Items approved included minutes, the annual Crawfish Boil festival permit (May 3, 2025), a road closure at 1201 Hill Street for a decorative speed table (April 7–11, 2025), and a seasonal closure of King Street between Bank Street and Powder Spring Street from March 18, 2025 through Nov. 2, 2025 (Fridays 3 p.m. to Sundays 6 p.m.). Motion to approve consent agenda by Councilman Lindley; second by Councilman Pickens. Vote: unanimous 6‑0.

Votes at the meeting were uniformly 6‑0 in favor on the items recorded; Councilwoman Wilkinson was noted as absent for the evening. Several motions were made and seconded on the record as summarized above.

How the measures will proceed

Staff will implement the contract and budget changes per department procedures, schedule inspections and permits for the Tolleson Park Aquatic Center design work and begin geotechnical/cleanup work. The IT reclassification moves responsibilities to the IT department and preserves the pay grade while creating a cross‑trained systems team. The ARPA amendment funds a small change order to allow tree removal needed during playground work.

No votes at the meeting failed or were tabled.