Public safety appreciation and alcohol license board appointee takes her oath

Last night at a glance: October 8th Regularly Scheduled City Council Meeting; 6:30pm at 135 Riverside Pkwy co-motion room

All members of city council were present.

A proclamation was given in recognition of Public Safety Appreciation week. Cobb County Precinct 2 commander Major John Knoblach and Cobb County Fire Chief Michael Cunningham spoke at the podium and expressed gratitude to the community and their commitment to public safety.

Aileen Harris, District 3’s appointee to the Alcohol License Review board, took her oath to serve on the board since she was not present at the previous meeting where the council approved her appointment.

Public comment:

Denny Wilson of District 2 apologized for a profane word she said in the previous meeting during public comment. She stated that she felt regret for the word she used but not for advocating for a solution to the potholes on Premiere LN.

Donte Philpot of District 1 spoke on behalf of the Austell Community Taskforce to reintroduce the organization to the community.

Angela Wynn of District 2 spoke on behalf of the Riverside Renters Association. She thanked the mayor and city council for the passage of the Safe and Healthy Housing Ordinance, but expressed a need for more affordable housing options.

Lynn Pryer of District 5 spoke about a desire for solutions to address unlicensed regulated businesses, and the issue of code enforcement not working nights or weekends when many code violations are taking place.

The city council approved the consent agenda which included:

•Approval of previous meeting minutes

•A resolution amending the prior authorization for the purchase of fleet vehicles to raise the purchase threshold from $470,425 to $500,000, and to reduce the number of vehicles from 11 to 10.

•A resolution to abandoned a 0.02162 acre section of right-of-way for a 304 units apartment community to be built on a portion of the property at 790 Clay Rd/5178 Floyd Rd. This development was previously approved by Cobb County when they approved their form based code before Mableton took over zoning. The site received all land disturbance approvals, including Cobb County zoning approval in July 2024 (Mableton took over zoning in March 2025).

•A resolution for a stormwater maintenance agreement for a development project relating to Sweetlake Grove subdivision.

Second Read of ordinance updating alcohol license and regulatory fees. Reference to police was amended to apply to city law enforcement officers and/or Cobb County Police Officers performing law enforcement services on the City’s behalf. The ordinance was adopted 7-0.

•City Manager Comments: Michael Hughes, Mableton’s Community Development Director, will be serving as Mableton’s Interim Code Enforcement Director as our previous code enforcement director Is no longer employed by the city.

•Council Comments

•Executive Session for personnel and litigation

After executive session, there were two resolutions approved:

The contract for the Chief Municipal Court Judge compensation.

Approval to authorize an intergovernmental agreement with Cobb County as it pertains to regulated businesses.

Photo credit to Gregory Woods, Mableton Communications Director