BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC – July 27, 2026, 6pm
Hiawassee City Hall 50 River Street – Upstairs Training Room
COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA
1. Call to Order
1.1 Invocation –Scott Benton
1.2 Pledge of Allegiance
1.3 Approval agenda as distributed
2. Consent Agenda
2.1 Minutes of July 7, 2026, Council Meeting
2.2 Minutes of July 27, 2026, Work Session Meeting
2.3 Payment of the PBC Loan from SPLOST ($26,350.02)
3. Mayor’s Report
4. Aclarian Contract discussion
5. Waterworth contract renewal
6. Wastewater treatment plant decanter
7. Department Head Report – Clint Royce
8. Public Comment
9. I Executive session
10. Adjournment
HIAWASSEE COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES -July 27, 2026, 6pm
The Hiawassee City Council met for the July Work Session in the Upstairs Training Room at City Hall on July 27, 2026, at 6:00PM. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Jay Chastain. Present, in addition to the Mayor, were Council members Scott Benton, Andrea Bell, Jeff Scott and Jonathan Wilson. Nancy Noblet was absent. Staff present were Economic Development Director Lily Ponitz, Police Officer Trey Chastain, Sewer Department Manager Clint Royce, City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick, and Court Clerk Sheryl Branson.
The Invocation was given by Scott Benton and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Approval of the agenda as distributed was first made by Jonathan Wilson, seconded by Scott Benton with all in favor.
The Consent agenda, consisting of minutes from July 7, 2026, City Council Meeting, July 27, 2026, Work Session, and the payment of the PBC Loan from SPLOST (26,350.02) will be voted on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.
Mayor’s Report
The Mayor stated that over the July 4th holiday weekend, a valve at River Street and Georgia Highway 2 developed a significant leak. We delayed the repair until after the holiday weekend and completed the emergency repair as quickly as possible.
We have not received the invoices from Colwell Construction for the repair work or from Parker Concrete for the road restoration. As required by the Georgia Department of Transportation, the repair included 8 inches of concrete. Once the invoices are received, they will be brought before the Council for ratification.
The Wastewater treatment plant has continued to keep Clint extremely busy. The combination of aging filters, an aging control panel, and the extreme summer heat created several operational issues and several sleepless nights.
Clint has done an outstanding job keeping the plant operational through these challenges.
The plant is now operating as well as can reasonably be expected given the condition of the equipment.
We are anticipating filter rehabilitation in October and installation of a new control panel in November. Lead times continue to be a challenge.
We continue to experience problems with trash coming from the Towns County Detention Center making its way through the sewer system and into our pumps, creating unnecessary maintenance and wear.
Fortunately, there is a practical solution. A grinder pump was previously installed on the jail side of the lift station, and the electrical wiring is already in place. We only need to replace the grinder pump,
Reinstalling the grinder will help protect our pumps, reduce maintenance, and improve the reliability of the wastewater collection system. Mayor Chastain will meet again with Sheriff Coleman and Commissioner Bradshaw to discuss purchasing the jail lift station grinder.
The extreme heat has made field operations difficult as crews continue maintaining our aging infrastructure.
The building for the Coon Cove distribution tanks is scheduled to be delivered on Thursday.
Water distribution has taken delivery of their new service truck, which will improve efficiency and reliability in the field.
City Hall continues making progress on the new Employee Handbook and implementation of our Human Resources program.
Restoration of the Berrong-Oakley House continues to move forward steadily. We have signed letters of support for grant applications that will help position the City for future funding opportunities.
Our comprehensive Plan has received a renewed sense of momentum. We have been assigned a new GMRC representative who has been proactive, engaged, and is providing the level of assistance we expected. I am optimistic we are moving in the right direction.
I appreciate the hard work of every city employee. Despite the challenges of aging infrastructure, extreme temperatures and ongoing projects, our staff continues to work hard every day to keep the City of Hiawassee moving forward. Thank you all for your continued support.
The no Wake signs from DNR for the boat ramp have come in and put up. DNR has been patrolling the area heavily.
Number four on the agenda is Aclarian contract discussion. The council discussed implementing Aclarian ERP to streamline accounting. Scott Benton noted that Aclarian is a new company without a long-track record. The city would be a UAT customer, using its data to find and repair software bugs. The standard contract is for three years but the city would request a one-year term. A one-year trial still entails substantial upfront training and implementation costs.
They discussed the ERP Intuit (from QuickBooks), Edmonds, Tyler, and OpenGov. QuickBooks was previously used but is not suitable for government accounting. Aclarian offered over 25% off for being an early UAT customer in Georgia.
The council removed the Aclarian item from the upcoming agenda to allow more research into alternatives, acknowledging the need for a modern, user-friendly system to support accounting.
The Waterworth contract is up for renewal. The contract costs 14,064.75. The software is considered extremely valuable and a “lifesaver” for managing the water system data.
Next on the agenda is the Wastewater Plant decanter. Clint reported issues with the decanter that releases water at the wastewater treatment plant. One decanter (SBR#2) was replaced in 2017; the other decanter (SBR#1) is old and its frame is failing. A recent failure left SBR#2 down for six days. A proposal for a new decanter was presented at $41,000.00.
Clint recommended ordering one now and a second as a backup due to long lead times. It was also suggested to order parts to rebuild the existing decanter. The budget is tight due to recent expenditures.
The old electrical line at the fairgrounds has burned out three times in six months. EMC has mandated installation of a new line. Hilda stated that she would chip in to help with the cost.
The city completed work on the water lines up to the meter at the fairgrounds. Ongoing water loss is on the customer’s side and is their responsibility. The new tiered billing system may incentivize repairs, as higher usage results in higher bills.
No Public Comment was requested.
Executive Session was needed. Motion to enter executive session was first made by Jonathan Wilson and seconded by Scott Benton with all in favor.
Motion to adjourn executive session was made first by Jonathan Wilson and second by Andrea Bell with all I favor.
Motion to adjourn work session meeting was made first by Jeff Scott and second by Scott Benton with all I favor.
Meeting adjourned at 6:56 PM