BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC
November 7th, 2023 6 PM Upstairs Training Room
HIAWASSEE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
1. Call to order
1.1 Invocation – Nancy Noblet
1.2 Pledge of Allegiance
1.3 Mayor’s Introductions of Guests and Announcements
1.4 Approve the Agenda as distributed
2. Approval of Consent Agenda:
2.1 Minutes from October 3rd, 2023 City Council Meeting
2.2 Minutes from Work Session October 30th 2023
2.3 June Financials
3. Approval of the 2024 Calendar
4. Approval Air Med Care Contract renewal for 2024, same price $5390.00
5. Alcohol License approval for: - Hiawassee Package Store - Hiawassee Food Mart (Texaco) - Monte Alban - Ingles iMarket - Ingles - Hiawassee Fuels LLC (Valero) - Bacchus on Lake - Exxon 24-7 Mart - Tilted Café - Tilted Bottle - Sundance Grill - Hiawassee Brew **Only missing Business is GIR Gastro Lounge, they are out of town until next week.
6. Approval of 2nd reading of Sign Ordinance to address Feather Flags
7. Consideration and possible approval of Term Sheet for loan for completion of PBC
8. Consideration and possible approval of City Resolution related to loan
9. Consideration and possible approval of Acknowledge and Consent to Assignment
10. Consideration and possible approval of License Agreement related to loan
11. Consideration and possible approval of Intergovernmental Contract with DDA for loan
12. Consideration and possible approval of Amended Contract with Storm Construction for work on PBC
13. Consideration and possible approval of Management Agreement with DDA for operation of PBC
14. Consideration and possible approval of ratification in whole or part of contract with Source Urbanism
15. Resolution confirming direction to Storm Construction to resolve water issues on Trailful as part of completion of project.
16. Consideration of motion to initiate an investigation pursuant to Charter Section 2.15 re: Mayor execution of contracts
17. Appointment of Special assistant city attorney to assist with investigation
18. Consideration of motion to initiate forensic audit
19. Executive Session
20. Adjournment
HIAWASSEE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES November 7th, 2023
The City of Hiawassee November City Council meeting was called to order at 6:00PM on November 7th, 2023, in the Upstairs Training Room at City Hall by Mayor Liz Ordiales. The meeting was open to the public and broadcast over FaceBook Live.
Present in addition to the Mayor were Council members Anne Mitchell, Patsy Owens, Nancy Noblet, Amy Barrett and Jay Chastain. Staff present were Economic Development Director Denise McKay, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick. City Attorney Thomas Mitchell was also in attendance.
Mayor Ordiales welcomed guests including DDA Chairperson Peggy Gardner and Historical Society President Tyler Osborn.
Mayor Ordiales announced that the on-site audit had been completed in one day instead of the normal 3 -4 days. She thanked City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick for her efforts. She also announced that the Georgia Trends Magazine and the Georgia Municipal Association elects 9 cities for the Visionary City of the Year award. 3 small cities (under 5000 population), 3 medium cities (5000 – 25000 population) and 3 large cities (over 25000 population). Hiawassee has been named one of the 3 small cities. The award is based on civic engagement, inclusivity and equity, innovation, and long-term value to the community.
The Invocation was given by Council member Nancy Noblet and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Mayor amended the agenda to include Pace Analytics for testing water for pesticides and herbicides because of all the issues with the Parrott Feather in the lake and a motion to approve payment to Storm Construction for work already completed. Motion to approve the agenda as amended was made by Council member Nancy Noblet seconded by Council Member Anne Mitchell with all present in favor.
Motion to approve the contract with Pace Analytical to test water for herbicides and pesticides in the lake. TVA assures us there are no issues with the parrot feather weeds affecting water quality, but to be extra safe we want to test quarterly ($1,200.00) until TVA has a plan for the weeds. Motion to approve the Pace Analytical testing was made by Council member Anne Mitchell seconded by Council member Patsy Owens with all in favor.
In new business, motion to approve the Consent Agenda, which includes the Minutes from October 3rd, 2023, City Council Meeting, and the Minutes from October 30th, 2023, Work Session was made by Council member Nancy Noblet seconded by Council member Patsy Owens with all in favor. The June Financials were again tabled.
Motion to approve the 2024 Holiday and Meeting Calendar amended was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council Member Nancy Noblet with all present in favor.
Motion to approve the Air Med Care Contract renewal for 2024 for $5,390.00 was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by Council Member Amy Barrett with all present in favor.
Motion to approve the Alcohol Licenses for Hiawassee Package Store, Hiawassee Food Mart (Texaco), Monte Alban, Ingles iMarket, Ingles, Hiawassee Fuels LLC (Valero), Bacchus on Lake, Exxon 24-7 Mart, Tilted Café, Tilted Bottle, Sundance Grill, and Hiawassee Brew was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by Council Member Patsy Owens with all present in favor. Only GIR Gastro Lounge has not submitted their renewal as they are out of town this week.
Motion to approve the 2nd reading of Sign Ordinance to address Feather Flags was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council Member Jay Chastain. Also in favor were Council member Amy Barrett and Patsy Owens. Council member Anne Mitchell voted against it.
Motion to consider and possibly approval the Term Sheet for loan for completion of PBC was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council Member Anne Mitchell. Upon the advice of City Attorney Mitchell to strike this from the records because the terms will now be incorporated into the loan documents, motion to strike was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all in favor.
Motion for consideration and possible approval of City Resolution related to loan was made by Council member Amy Barrett and seconded by Council member Anne Mitchell. City attorney Thomas Mitchell stated that this document authorizes the Mayor to execute the documents related to the loan – this loan will be expended only on 73 Main Street, which is referred to as Building A and will house the incubator and event space. Each of the documents that relate to this – which will be discussed during the remainder of the meeting will, in their final form, be attached to this resolution. DDA met this morning and spent the majority of the meeting going over the management document and did not get into the rest of the documents. Attorney Mitchell doesn’t expect there will be many issues with the reaming documents as they are essentially form documents with a few exceptions. Given that the DDA has not approved those documents, Attorney Mitchell is advising that the Council not vote on the documents at this time. DDA only recessed their meeting until Thursday (11/9) at 4:30pm and will complete the management document taking into consideration what the Council decides regarding the agreement. At that point Attorney Mitchell expects the DDA will approve the documents and the Council will need to convene a special called meeting. Since the Council is together at this point, the recommendation from Attorney Mitchell is to discuss the documents. Motion to table the city resolution was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Jay Chastain with all in favor.
Attorney Mitchell explained that the purpose of the Acknowledge and Consent to Assignment document is for the DDA to assign rights to the intergovernmental agreement to the bank so that the bank can enforce it should something happen that the DDA or the City does not comply with their obligations. City Council must agree to the assignment and agrees to pay the bank directly. Motion to table this item was made by Council member Amy Barrett and seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet with all in favor.
Attorney Mitchell stated the Council will need to approve a license agreement with the DDA to operate the Paris Business Center. The license does not give the DDA the right to be a landlord. The Council will still approve the leases. Motion to table this item was made by Council member Amy Barrett and seconded by Council member Jay Chastain with all in favor.
Attorney Mitchell highlighted the major provisions of the Intergovernmental Contract with DDA for loan including the prerequisites to closing (detailed income projections, budgets, restaurant lease, Council’s lease agreement with the DDA for management of the PBC), provision that the DDA can’t spent on anything but to pay cost of construction, City to pay Authority sufficient to make payments to bank, obligation to City on project length, City has the ability to levy property taxes to fulfill the loan obligations(however, rental income from incubator spaces, conference room space, and the restaurant as well as SPLOST funds have been allocated to assist in repaying the loan), City is responsibility for cost of operations, adherence to the grant requirements and the terms of the loan(grant stipulates it will be used as specified for a minimum of 10 years), indemnification (not enforceable), and tax exempt note requires non-profit purposes (Buildings were not treated separately, but contractor [John Sheahon] was able to determine the $1Million loan amount remaining to be spent on Building A. Rules also allow capture of the last 60 days expenditure and in that time almost $350,000 has been allocated to Building A). Thre will be exhibits included in this document as well. Attorney Mitchell requested that, if possible, the Council review all the documents and send any questions before Thursday so that it could all be reviewed by the DDA at the meeting on Thursday afternoon. Motion to table this item was made by Council member Amy Barrett and seconded by Council member Anne Mitchell with all in favor.
Attorney Mitchell discussed the Amended Contract with Storm Construction document for work on the PBC. This AIA document is skeletal and works with two other documents – general and supplemental conditions. This contract has a provision where any change order that increases the cost by $5000.00 or more, must come before Council for approval. Another provision of this contract is that the original contract will be attached to it and acknowledges that approximately $560,000 has already been paid to the contractor and states the original contract remains in force and effect unless altered by this amended contract. This will provide the contractor with assurance that he will not be in breach of the contract because there has been some value engineering and field engineering in order to reduce the price, some of the things shown on the drawings is now going to be different. Motion to table this item was made by Council member Jay Chastain and seconded by council member Amy Barrett with all in favor.
The amended agenda item “Motion to authorize payment of$144,990 for Pay App No. 4 and $16,875 for Pay App No. 5 to Storm Construction for work completed on the Paris Business Center as reviewed and approved by the Architect, Source Urbanism; provided this authorization of payment does not ratify any contract not properly reviewed by City Attorney and approved by City Council but is for the purpose of paying for work completed on City property and to preserve the City’s opportunity to obtain grant funds to pay these amounts.’, was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded Council member Patsy Owens with all in favor.
Motion to approve payment to Storm Construction as reviewed for work already completed was made by council member Amy Barrett, seconded by council member Jay Chastain with all in favor.
Attorney Mitchell reviewed the details of the revised Management Agreement with the DDA for the operation of the PBC after completion of both properties. This document details the City’s and the DDA’s roles and responsibilities in the Paris Business Center including supporting economic development, complying with all laws and grant requirements, reporting requirements, approval processes, insurance requirements, rent collections processes (including past due collections) compensation requirements and termination clauses etc. DDA has the authority to spend up to $3,000 to mitigate damage in an emergency. City Council will approve leases of greater than 5 consecutive days duration. Separate accounting for the PBC and needed funds the DDA is retaining related to reimbursable grants already approved and fund-raising activities. DDA compensation is also addressed in the agreement. It states that the DDA doesn’t pertain to construction activities. Motion to table this item was made by Council member Nancy Noblet and seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all in favor. Attorney Mitchell again asked the Council to please provide him with any questions or changes prior to the DDA meeting on Thursday at 4:30pm.
Consideration and possible approval of ratification in whole or part of contract with Source Urbanism (PBC Project Engineers). Attorney Mitchell indicated this includes the change orders that he emailed to Council (but has not had a opportunity to review) which he feels will likely need to be ratified. Motion to table this item was made by Council member Nancy Noblet and seconded by Council member Jay Chastain with all in favor.
Resolution confirming direction to Storm Construction to resolve water issues on Trailful as part of completion of project. Attorney Mitchell stated that completion of the project may or may not resolve the water issue at Trailful (it will likely take conversation between the engineers for PBC and Trailful to determine how to correct the problem) and Council determined that they would need additional information. Since the Council has not approved a contract with Storm Construction, nothing can be done at this time. Once there is a contract with Storm Construction, they can be in touch with Traillful’s engineers or construction people to work on an issue. Mayor Ordiales stated that the last change order was to correct the issue and was for approximately $2,500.00.
Motion to initiate an investigation pursuant to Charter Section 2.15 re: Mayor execution of contracts was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett. When asked how this would work, Attorney Mitchell stated that the Council was interested in appointing a special assistant city attorney from a list he provided (next item on agenda). Council member Anne Mitchell asked if she had missed a meeting as she was not aware of this. It was stated that Attorney Mitchell had sent an email and Council member Jay Chastain had forwarded it to both Council members Owens and Mitchell’s personal email accounts since he was aware they were having difficulty with their city emails. There was discussion regarding the timing of emails. Approving the motion was Council member Nancy Noblet. Council members Patsy Owens and Anne Mitchell abstained.
Motion to appoint special assistant city attorney from list provided by City Attorney Mitchell – Council is requesting Attorney Dana Miles – to assist with investigation was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by council member Amy Barrett, with all in favor.
Motion to table the initiation of a forensic audit pending the investigation was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet with all in favor.
Motion to go into executive session to discuss personnel was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Jay Chastain with all in favor.
Motion to exit Executive session was made by Council member Jay Chastain, second by Council member Amy Barrett with all in favor.
After adjourning executive session, the Council discussed the process for ethics complaints. City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick outlined the process. These was discussion around Jonathan Wilson’s position on the Ethics board and Attorney Mitchell advised he should have been replaced when he qualified for City Council. City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick advised the Council that she probably was the one who said he did not need to step down. As Mr. Wilson was appointed by the Council, the Council will need to appoint another person on the Ethics Committee.
Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by Patsy Owens with all in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:09 pm.