BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC – May 26, 2026, 6pm
Hiawassee City Hall 50 River Street Council Chambers
COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA
- Call to Order
1.1. Invocation –Andrea Bell
1.2. Pledge of Allegiance
1.3. Approval agenda as distributed
- Consent Agenda
2.1. Minutes of May 5, 2026 Council Meeting
2.2. Minutes of May 26, 2026 Work Session Meeting
2.3. March 2026 financials
- Mayor’s Report
- Aclarian Demo and discussion
- Alcohol License for the Wine Bar for Mama’s on the Water
- FY 2025-2026 Budget Amendment Ordinance
- Employee Assistance Program- EAP
- Home Rule Ordinance – Hearing Procedures for Removal of Officers
- Appointment of Hannah Chriswell to DDA Board
- Department Head Report – Clint Royce
- Executive session
- Adjournment
COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES – May 26, 2026, at 6:00 PM
The Hiawassee City Council met in the Upstairs Training Room at City Hall on May 26, 2026, at 6:05PM. The meeting was late due to technical difficulties. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jay Chastain. Present, in addition to the Mayor, were Council members Nancy Noblet, Scott Benton, Andrea Bell and Jonathan Wilson. Council member Jeff Scott was absent. Staff present were Economic Development Director Lily Ponitz, Police Officer JP Smallwood, City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick, and Court Clerk Sheryl Branson.
The Invocation was given by Andrea Bell and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
The agenda as distributed was approved 1st by Andrea Bell, 2nd by Scott Benton with all in favor.
The Consent agenda, consisting of minutes from May 5, 2026, City Council Meeting, May 26, 2026, Work Session, and the March 2026 financials will be voted on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.
Mayor’s Report
The Mayor stated that Proposals (RFP) for Phase 1 of the rehabilitation of the Road Runner Lift station have officially been released. This phase consists of the interior coating removal and inspection process so we can properly evaluate the condition of the structure and move forward with the rehabilitation process. This remains one of our priority infrastructure projects due to the importance of wastewater system liability.
We have received an update regarding the timeline for the rehabilitation of the sewer treatment filters. Clint Royce will provide the council with additional operational details and updates during the work session.
City crews continue aggressively locating and repairing leaks throughout the water distribution system. During our ongoing meter audit and review process, we discovered a meter that had not been read and did not have an ERT installed since the original installation. Situations such as this reinforce the importance of the meter audit process as we continue working to address water accountability and system water loss.
We continue working through issues with Black Mountain billing system that resulted in significant billing discrepancies involving the Georgia Mountain Fair accounts. During our review process, we identified approximately 150 misreads caused by digits either being accidentally added or omitted during the meter reading process. Staff have been actively correcting these accounts individually and reviewing procedures to improve billing accuracy moving forward.
In closing, the mayor thanked the council, department heads, and employees for their continued work and dedication as we address these infrastructure and operational challenges.
Number four on the agenda is Aclarian demo and discussion. Jon Maduro, Mike Fuentez, Jai Lewis and Mike Fitzgerald discussed the program and gave a demo of a few of the capabilities the company has to offer, Muni billing, Paychex, and Alcarian general ledger. Aclarion solution aims to improve accountability by tracking who makes mistakes, allowing for correction, which is a current challenge for the city. It provides a citizen portal for the residents to pay bills and manage their accounts. The company has discussed extending the implementation costs over a one year period to avoid a large, single hit to the budget.
Next is the Alcohol License for the Wine Bar for Mama’s on the water.
Next is the FY 2025-2026 Budget Amendment Ordinance.
Number seven is the Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
Number eight is the Home Rule Ordinance – Hearing Procedures for Removal of Officers due to a typo.
Council will be asked to appoint Hannah Chriswell to the DDA Board.
Clint Royce of the sewer Department will give us an update on the sewer Plant. The Control panel has been ordered and should be in December/January. The filters have been ordered and should be in October/November. The Jetter is 4-6 weeks out. Two pumps for the Road Runner were ordered.
Public Comment was requested by Jeffrey Bradley. Mr. Bradley thanked the city for its commitment to the sidewalk efforts. He is legally blind and knows them well. Would like for them to go from State Bank to the Senior Center. He also requests that the city helps to have toe taps placed at the shopping center where Tilted Café is located.
No need to go into executive session.
Motion to adjourn was made 1st by Jonathan Wilson and 2nd by Scott Benton with all I favor.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:18 pm.