HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION AGENDA/MINUTES August 25th, 2025 6pm

BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE       SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC – August 25th, 2025 6pm
Hiawassee City Hall 50 River Street Upstairs Training Room
WORK SESSION AGENDA

1. Call to Order 

1.1.   Invocation –Scott Benton

1.2.   Pledge of Allegiance

1.3.   Approval agenda as distributed

1. Consent Agenda

2.1.   Minutes of August 5, 2025 Council Meeting

2.2.   Minutes of August 25, 2025 Work Session Meeting

1. Mayor’s Report

1. Recap of Council retreat

1. Waterworth

1. Texaco under new ownership – alcohol license

1. DDA nominations for board of directors 

1. Hikeawassee bus funding request

1. Department Head Report – Paul Smith

1. Public Comment

1. Executive session

1. Adjournment

WORK SESSION MINUTES August 25th, 2025

The Hiawassee City Council met for the August Work Session in the Upstairs Training Room at City Hall on August 25th, 2025, at 6:00PM. The meeting was open to the public and broadcast over FaceBook Live.  The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jay Chastain. Present, in addition to the Mayor were Council members Amy Barrett, Scott Benton, Nancy Noblet, Patsy Owens and Jonathan Wilson.  Staff present were Deputy City Clerk Sheryl Branson, Police Chief Paul Smith, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick.  City Attorney Thomas Mitchell was also in attendance. 

The Invocation was given by Council member Scott Benton and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

Motion to approve the agenda as distributed was made by Council member Nancy Noblet seconded by Council member Patsy Owens, with all in favor.

Next week at the Council meeting the Consent Agenda will include the minutes of the August 5, 2025, Council Meeting and the minutes of August 25, 2025, Work Session Meeting.

In his report Mayor Chastain provided an update on the water issue on Bell Street that occurred early on August 14, 2025, that resulted in a large sink hole. It was a galvanize line that broke due to aging infrastructure. Once this was repaired, another significant rain event followed, and we had to regrade, cut deeper ditches and repair the hole again. We are in the process of cleaning all the ditches on city streets.

The Mayor discussed the aging water system and emphasized the need for major infrastructure upgrades estimated to be between 8-10 million. Funding options, including grants and low-interest loans, will be pursued.

The Mayor recapped the highlights of the Council retreat.  We are nearing the permits levels for water withdrawal from the lake, like to exceed our permit around 2027 or 2028.  Improvements will need to be made especially in finding water loss.  The Council will consider zone metering to help identify where leaks are occurring to facilitate finding them. Needs identified in the draft capital improvement plan wer 5 -12 million for water treatment, 1.5 to 2.7 million for water distribution and 2.6 – 6.2 for sewer.  Two sewer lift stations need immediate repair/rehab/replacement.  Once the draft CIP has been accepted by the Council, EMI will work on securing grants and low interest loans for the city.

The Texaco station is now under new ownership and will need a new alcohol license in the new owner’s name.  They are working through the application process, and the Council will be asked to approve the license once the owner has completed the process.

The DDA has 4 nominations for 5 board seats.  They have vetted and unanimously approved Kristi Bryant, Shaw Farmer, Doug Schober and Brad Baso.

The DDA has requested the City assist with funding for the Hikeawassee bus.  Two proposals were presented, which were dependent on how much funding they were able to secure and if the bus is purchased or rented.  Questions should be sent to Lily for answers ahead of the meeting next week.

Chief Paul Smith gave the report on the Police Department since he has been back.  In the last 3 months the officers have written 130 tickets, 48 warnings, 42 incident reports, 22 accident reports and made 10 arrests.  In the last month, there has been a significant increase in traffic has been evidence by the tag readers.

Attorney Thomas Mitchell is working on a new disruption of public meetings ordinance and will have it for first reading next week.

There were no public comments.

Motion to enter Executive Session to discuss litigation was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Patsy Owens.  All in favor.

Motion to exit Executive Session was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet with all in favor

Motion to adjourn was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all in favor.  Meeting adjourned at 6:42pm.