BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC –City Hall Training Room Upstairs
HIAWASSEE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
Tuesday June 27th 6PM
1. Call to order
1.1 Invocation – Amy Barrett
1.2 Pledge of Allegiance
1.3 Mayor’s Introductions of Guests and Announcements
1.4 Approve the Agenda as distributed
2. Kim Bucciero – The Overlook at Lake Chatuge
3. Mike Parrish – Dragon House
4. Old Business
4.1 Mayors Report
5. Consent Agenda:
5.1 Minutes from June 6th 2023 City Council Meeting
5.2 Minutes from Work Session 6-27-23
5.3 March Financials
6. Berrong-Oakley House MOU with Historical Society
7. Amendment to Hotel-Motel Ordinance to show change from 5% to 8%
8. Black Mountain software to use instead of QuickBooks – $4960.00
8.1 Annual going forward is $3685.00
9. Police Report
10. Economic Development Report
11. Executive Session
12. Adjournment
HIAWASSEE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES
Tuesday June 27th 6PM
The June Work Session of the City Council was called to order by Mayor Liz Ordiales on June 27th, 2023 at 6:00pm. Present in addition to the Mayor were Council members Amy Barrett, Anne Mitchell, Nancy Noblet, Patsy Owens, Jay Chastain was not present. Staff present were Economic Development Director Denise McKay, Downtown Development Director Steve Harper, Police Chief Jeremy Parker, Officer Bill Conway, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick. City Attorney Thomas Mitchell was also present.
The invocation was given by Council member Amy Barrett and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mayor Ordiales welcomed guests including Zach Mitchell, Attorney Mitchell’s son, Kim Bucciero of Tiny South, Brad Baso of Nourish Inc, Mike Parrish of Asheville, NC, Mark Adams, and his wife.
Motion to approve the agenda as distributed was made by Council member Anne Mitchell, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all present in favor.
Kim Bucciero gave a presentation on The Overlook at Lake Chatuge plans containing cottages with 1, 2, and 3 bedrooms as well as green space to assist in generating community togetherness. This project would be located on Main Street and Ross Lloyd Road.
Mike Parrish gave a presentation on Dragon sculpture he is looking to erect on his newly purchased property where he is building his home at the top of Whiskey Mountain.
In Old Business the Mayor's Report included updates on the Berrong-Oakley House, property tax collections (only $398 in uncollected property tax), Paris Business Center Construction, English Country Gardens flower donations, Music on the Square (Roy Perrin (Elvis) and Bill Rinaldo will be performing this week), the beach swim guide showing Lloyds Landingas a 100% safe place for swimming, “Only in your State” – we are a top small town, Tyler Osborn being named “Citizen of the year” by the Lake Chatuge Rotary Club, GMA Convention presentations on the AT Project and Andrea Gibby being named 3rd Vice President and a mention of loss of Gerry Gutenstein to our community, as he moved to be with his family in Florida.
On the agenda at the Council meeting on July 5th (please note date) for vote will be the consent agenda which will include the Minutes from June 6th, 2023 City Council Meeting, the Minutes from June 27th, 2023 Work Session and the March Financials.
The Mayor presented the memorandum of understanding with the Historical Society for the management of the Berrong-Oakley house which was reviewed by Mr. Mitchell and distributed to council for review.
We have been advised by the Department of Community Affairs that we must amend our ordinance for the Hotel-Motel to accommodate the change from 5% to 8%. This will be on the agenda for the Council meeting on July 5th. If a full council is present, we can amend at 1 meeting.
QuickBooks is moving to an all-online, subscription model. Now is the time to look at alternatives. Because we already use Black Mountain Software for utility billing and property tax, it would make work easier to have the accounting package. It is designed for municipalities and will work seamlessly with the other applications. The cost to convert and first year maintenance will be $4960.00. Annual maintenance cost going forward is $3685.00. This will be on the City Council Agenda for approval. Estimated timeframe for transition is October-November 2023.
In the Police Report, Chief Parker reviewed the activity log for his officers showing arrests, citations, accidents, etc. and also read a commendation letter for Bill Conway as a result of a contact from one of our citizens.
In the Economic Development Report, Director McKay updated the council and citizens on the upcoming Jimmy Buffett event at the Ridges on July 15th, VIP seating is sold out, only lawn seats are remaining.
The next Night Market will be held July 7th with 26 vendors and musical talent of Rachel Pinson. Denise also reviewed several housing assistance programs from USDA and recapped the potential for an Apartment facility to be located in Young Harris near the BRMEMC offices. We are looking to fill these apartments with our citizens that need affordable housing opportunities and encourage any assistance with signing up our residents for these apartments should they get approved by DCA. Denise also updated that the Art Plan and the committee is underway with seeking sculptors for the Firefly project as well as the Joint Development Authority working with 14+ businesses.
Motion to enter Executive Session to discuss pending litigation, was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all present in favor. The meeting moved to Executive Session at 7:37pm.
Once returning to regular session, a discussion was had as to the rescheduling of the City Council meeting previously slated to be held July 11th. Council Members Amy Barrett and Nancy Noblet would not be in town as they have scheduled vacations.It was decided to move the July City Council to July 5th so we would have full participation.
No further issues were discussed, Motion to adjourn was made by Amy Barrett, second by Anne Mitchell with all present in favor. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 PM.