Agenda for November 26th, 2018 Meetings
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING
6PM – City Hall Upstairs Training Room
- 1st Reading of the Amended Alcohol Ordinance (Brunch Bill hours)
- Invocation – Anne Mitchell
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Vote on amended alcohol ordinance
- Adjourn
November 26th, 2018 Meeting
SPECIAL CALLED MEETING MINUTES
Amended Alcohol Ordinance (Brunch Bill hours)
At 6:00 pm, Mayor Liz Ordiales called to order the meeting for the purpose of the 1st reading of the amended Alcohol Ordinance (Brunch Bill hours).
Present in addition to the Mayor, were Council members Patsy Owens, Nancy Noblet, Amy Barrett, Kris Berrong and Anne Mitchell. Also present were Police Chief Paul Smith, City Attorney Thomas Mitchell, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick.
The invocation was given by Council member Anne Mitchelland was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Motion to approve the amended alcohol ordinance, to include bunch hour alcohol sales, was made by Council member Anne Mitchell, and seconded by Council member Patsy Owens with all council voting in favor.
Motion to adjourn the special called meeting was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council memberNancy Noblet with all council voting in favor.
Meeting was adjourned at 6:02 pm.
HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION AGENDA
November 26th, 2018
The November Work Session Meeting will be held at 6:10 p.m. at City Hall Upstairs Training Room
- Call to order
- Mayor’s Introductions of Guests and Announcements
- Motion to Adopt Final Agenda as Distributed.
- Old Business
- Mayor’s Report
- Light Up Hiawassee – Dec 1, 2018 – Nancy Noblet
- Number of AirCare Med Airlifts to date
- Police Department Report
- New Business
- Terry Poteete – Visual Outdoor Advertising
- Fletcher Holliday – EMI Watershed Protection Plan
- Tim Barrett – Health Insurance
- Ethics Committee Assignments
- Sign Ordinance Changes
- Alcohol License renewals
- Consent Agenda for Tuesday, November 6thwill consist of:
- Minutes from:
- November 6thCity Council Minutes
- November 26thWork Session Minutes
- Alcohol License renewals for 2019
- Minutes from:
- September Financials
- Motion to Adjourn
HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION MINUTES
November 26th, 2018
Mayor Liz Ordiales called to order the November 26, 2018 Work Session of the Hiawassee City Council at 6:03 pm. As the meeting immediately followed a special called meeting, the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance were not repeated.
Mayor Ordiales introduces guests Terry Poteete of Visual Outdoor Advertising, Fletcher Holliday of Engineering Management, Inc. (EMI), and Tim Barrett of Barrett Insurance. She also recognized Gerry Gutenstein.
Mayor Ordiales advised the council that the agenda would need to be amended to include executive session to discuss threatened litigation.
Motion to adopt final agenda as amended was made by Council member Amy Barrett and seconded by Council Member Nancy Noblet. All council was in favor.
In old business, the Mayor gave her report including updates on Dancing with the Stars, Veteran’s Day events, Tater Ridge Project, Census 2020 is hiring, State of the Water from the Water Shed Coalition, turn signal at McDonald’s, Hiawassee Subway out of business, and the UGA Vinson Institute will unveil the strategic plan for the City on December 4th at 6:00pm at the Civic Center. Council member Nancy Noblet gave the update on Light Up Hiawassee. She thanked all who came out and help. It was a tremendous turn out and the work progressed quickly. We will have 5 vendors including Hamilton Gardens who will be selling Poinsettias and cyclamen. Thursday (November 29th) volunteers will again arrive on the square to put up more lights. Light Up Hiawassee will run from 4 – approx. 7:30.
Also in old business, the Mayor reported on a question raised at the November Council Meeting on November 6th by Council member Anne Mitchell. Ms. Mitchell had asked how many AirCareMed lifts had taken place this year so far. The Mayor contacted AirCarMed and learned there had been 17 Air lifts to date.
Chief Paul Smith gave the Police report. He reports that a bear had been spotted lounging on Oakmont Drive and seemed somewhat reluctant to vacate, but was eventually persuaded to leave. The Chief also gave an update on the Shop with a Hero program originally started as Shop with a Cop by a former police chief – the late Jimmy Wright. The program will take approximately 30 students from Towns County Schools to Walmart in Blairsville to shop and each child will be paired with a police officer, fire fighter, emergency medical technician or other hero. Anyone wishing to donate to the program is encouraged to drop off donations to the Police Department at City Hall.
Chief Smith also advised the council and the public that there are a number of phone scams going on. In one instance a person was duped into divulging personal information which led to their SS check being diverted. Chief Smith noted that with an app on a cell phone, you can make Caller ID display any number you choose. He cautioned all to be very vigilant with personal information. His suggestion is that if someone calls from Social Security Administration, your bank, insurance company, etc. and asks for information, to hang up, look up the number and call directly to verify the call was actually from them.
Mayor Ordiales invited Terry PoteeteofVisual Outdoor Advertising to address the Council.
Mr. Poteete introduced himself as a native of Blairsville now living in Gwinnett County. He started Visual Outdoor Advertising in 2001 and states he has signs in 7 area counties including Towns, Union, Fannin and also in NC in Clay and Cherokee. Mr. Poteete’sHiawassee signs are directly behind Brown Haven Builders. The billboards (4 faces,two over two)are 12’ x 24’ 55 feet in height.Mr. Poteete also advised the council that DOT regulations state there cannot be another billboard on the same side of the street within 5000’. He described the difference in the current lighting and the proposed LED lighting and that DOT regulation requires that the sign not change more frequently than every 8 seconds.
Mr. Poteete had made application to the City for a multi-message LED electronic sign (replacing one existing) in February. At that time, Mr. Poteete met with the Mayor who denied the application because it was prohibited by our sign ordinance and gave him a copy of the ordinance.
Attorney Mitchell explained to the council that as a council they can regulate the timing of the changes and how dim it is at night as well as distance between billboards. He also explained that another city he represents negotiated with the applicant to remove several signs and replace with only 1 electronic sign.
There was much discussion around billboards and signs in general by both the council and the public in attendance. It centered mainly on the esthetics of signs, specifically billboards, the impact to the visual beauty of the City, and the impact of the light both during the day and at night.
Fletcher Holliday of EMI presented the council with a proposal for satisfying the EDP’s Watershed Protection Plan monitoring. EPD requires both a watershed protection plan and on-going monitoring for direct discharge wastewater systems such as ours. The EDP is requiring the City to sample twice before the end of the year and 4 times in subsequent years on 23 different test items. Originally, when he met with the Mayor, the proposal was to process the samples at the labs at EMI. However, the Hiawassee wastewater plant has the necessary equipment to perform some of the testing required and Fletcher revised his proposal to remove those tests that can be performed in house. The original proposal was for $10,752.00 this year and $18,565.00 next year. The revised proposal is for $9,528 this year and $16,117.00. There was discussion around the EPD’s requirements and whether the Watershed Coalition’s testing could be used to further reduce the testing costs. Approval for the Mayor to enter into this contract with EMI, will be on the agenda at the December 4th Council meeting.
Tim Barrett of Barrett Insurance updated the Council on health insurance for city employees. Council member Amy Barrett disclosed her conflict of interest (she is Tim Barrett’s wife). He presented a spreadsheet created by the Mayor of insurance plans that are available and explained the differences. A new plan available this year through the chambers of commerce in the state, provides the best overall cost vs. benefit. The plan details are essentially the same as our “grandmothered” plan, however the plan deductible is significantly higher ($500 vs $1500). The cost savings to the City is $374/month/employee which annually equals as savings of $76,363.32. The cost for the insurance will still be 100% paid by the City for the employees. Approval of this insurance will be on the agenda at the December 4th Council meeting.
Ethics Committee Assignments for the next two years will be on the agenda for the December 4th Council meeting. The Council and the 4 individuals who have volunteered to server (Leslie McPeak, Susan Phillips, Sue Scott, and LaJean Turner) were provided with the section of the Ethics ordinance which details the requirements for the committee members. The Mayor will appoint one committee member, the Council will appoint one committee member, and the final committee member will be appointed by the Mayor and approved by majority vote of the Council.
The Council discussed moratorium and changes they would like to make to the sign ordinance. The discussion lingered on the sniper signs (aka yard signs or event signs) and there was discussion about extending the moratorium for another 60 days to complete the review. This will also be on the agenda at Tuesday’s Council meeting.
The Mayor advised the Council that all the Alcohol License renewals are in and that it will be on the agenda next Tuesday.
The consent agenda for Tuesday November 6thwill consist of the minutes of theNovember 6thCity Council, the November 26thSpecial Called meeting (Brunch Bill), and the November 26thWork session. It will also include the alcohol license renewals for 2019 and the September financials.
Motion to enter executive session to discuss possible litigation was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet with all council in favor. Council entered executive session at 8:00 pm.
Motion to exit executive session was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Anne Mitchell with all council in favor. Council exited executive session at 8:20 pm.
The Council briefly discussed the Towns County sign ordinance with Attorney Mitchell.
Motion to adjourn was made Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet and all council was in favor. Meeting adjourned at 8:30pm