College Park was on a deadline to receive $1.6 million from a Florida-based clean energy company when City Council approved rezoning for the 62-acre battery storage project in exchange for the payment, according to the city attorney.
City Attorney Winston Denmark responded to inquiries from the Attorney General’s Office on whether College Park violated the Open Meetings Act when council approved the controversial rezoning and payments from NextEra Energy Resources during a March 18 City Council meeting without discussion.
College Park officials have described NextEra payments as a grant.
Denmark stated in an April 8 letter to Assistant Attorney General Kristen Settlemire that “the city exercised its broad discretion” in adding the items for rezoning and funds to the meeting agenda without notice. The city’s letter was in response to a series of questions from the AG’s office about the city’s handling of the matter.
College Park “had deadlines requiring” officials to vote on the issues “to ensure the city would be able to receive the grant funds,” he said.
The mayor and city council added the items “to protect and advance the public interest,” Denmark said, but did not include more details. Mayor Bianca Motley Broom has raised concerns over the council’s handling of the rezoning and payment, including in a complaint to the AG’s office.
NextEra Energy Resources plans to build the Southwest Atlanta Battery Energy Storage facility on Welcome All Road where it will store electricity in banks of lithium ion batteries that can be pushed onto the grid to power homes and businesses. The facility is unwanted by many residents in the area who have raised safety concerns. While it’s located in College Park, much of the property is surrounded by the city of South Fulton.
The rezoning was denied by College Park City Council in 2021 and also last August due to residents’ concerns about the potential of fires and explosions.
The March 18 action was added to the City Council agenda at the start of the regular meeting and was voted on without a public hearing or advance public notice.
The Attorney General’s Office received complaints from at least two residents as well as the mayor.
There was little information shared at the meeting, such as what the rezoning or accompanying monies were for, the entity behind it, or the location of the property. There was also no supporting documents available to the public.
Motley Broom has said that she had no prior knowledge that the rezoning would be added to the agenda. She has also asserted that accepting the funds was improper. After pressing Interim City Manager Emmanuel Adediran for details, the public learned that the property was the site for the proposed battery storage facility.
Separately, Motley Broom is suing the city over ordinances passed by City Council in January that limit her ability to speak during debate on agenda items.
Motley Broom posted on her website a March 19, 2024 email from NextEra to city officials stating that the total funds from NextEra would be delivered by March 2026. The email references documents that show $200,000 will be paid “upon rezoning,” another $600,000“ upon commercial contract award,” and an additional $800,000 “prior to obtaining project build permits.”
Residents provided a similar document from NextEra regarding payment to South Fulton. The document, dated July 27, 2023, shows proposed payments to the city of South Fulton totaling $1.9 million for “support of the proposed Southwest Atlanta Battery Energy Storage project.”
South Fulton Public Affairs Director Shaheen Solomon said he is unaware of NextEra offering funds to the city for support of the project.
Editor’s Note: This story has been changed. An earlier version had an incorrect first name for College Park city manager Emmanuel Adediran.
