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HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION AGENDA/MINUTES
August 24^th, 2020

The August Work Session Meeting will be held in the training room upstairs. 

1. Call to order
   • Invocation – Nancy Noblet
   • Pledge of Allegiance 
   • Mayor’s Introductions of Guests and Announcements 
   • Approve the Agenda as distributed 
2. Old Business
   • Mayor’s Report 
3. New Business
   • Alcohol License for Tilted Café
   • Alcohol Ordinance update
   • Cares Act Resolution
   • Halloween Event
   • Final discussion on Technology fee-2^ndReading next week
   • Email Contract 
   • City Council Computers 
   • 2 Readings at 1 meeting approvals for Ordinances 
   • Consent Agenda
     • Minutes from the August 4^thCity Council Meeting
     • Minutes from August 24^thWork Session
     • May Financials 

4. Police Report
5. Economic Development Update

6. Executive Session
7. Adjournment

HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION MINUTES
August 24^th, 2020

The August Work Session Meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm in the Upstairs Training Room at City Hall by Mayor Liz Ordiales and was closed to the public but broadcast on FaceBook Live due to the pandemic. Present in addition to the Mayor were Council member Anne Mitchell, Patsy Owens, Amy Barrett, and Nancy Noblet.  Councilmember Jay Chastain was absent. Staff present were Economic Development Director Denise McKay, Police Chief Paul Smith, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick.

The Invocation was given by Councilmember Anne Mitchell and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. There were no guests.  The Mayor announced that she had just received the 5-year Tax Digest and Millage Rate rollback, both were distributed at that time. 

Motion to approve the agenda as distributed by made by Councilmember Amy Barrett, seconded by Councilmember Anne Mitchell with all present in favor.

In Old Business, the Mayor presents her report which included information on the COVID-19 statistics (a statewide increase of 430 deaths, 16919 positive cases; Towns County now has 5 deaths, 184 cases which is a 341% increase from last week; Union County has 7 deaths, 403 new cases which are a 557% increase from last week) – City Hall remains closed to the public, but we are fully staffed and meeting the public as necessary by appointment.  The last of the improvements at the Wastewater Treatment Plant is complete - the new stairs have been installed.  This month, Marta and Tim have identified 32 accounts with high usage, found 14 legitimate leaks for which ServLine has been contacted. Carl Grizzle opened a meter vault and found 5 snakes(!).  Mike Anderson will be leading (free) yoga classes on the Square every Saturday at 10 am and the Unicoi Plaza archway will be a Towns County School project for Lloyds Landing. Also, at Lloyds Landing, the kayak ramp should be installed in 3-4 weeks and the picnic tables are bringing people to enjoy a meal and the view. The news on Music on the Square (this weekend is canceled, but we added September 12 – Sweet Charity).  The updates on the Square included TurfCare – total year cost would be about $600.00 and we will vote on whether or not to have the service next week-, JC Berrong’s rock which was donated by his Sunday School class, and the speakers now have stone surrounding them so that the lawn service won’t hit them with the weed eaters.  Mayor Ordiales contacted the  City Engineers as well as the construction company that has been working on the Wastewater Treatment Plant regarding the issue with the WTP intake and they have come up with an idea that will likely cost approximately $50,000 instead of the first estimate of $239,000 and the 1975 generator at the WTP needs to be replaced which will cost $47,488.88.  First Fridays was a great success and the vendors were very happy.  In the Census update, we are falling behind the state and national average response rate and we need everyone’s help to get the work out that the last day is September 30^th.  We need everyone counted – it matters when there are grants based on population.  The new window mural at the Paris Pocket has been install – thank you to ArtWorks and the archery store mural is well on its way to a completion date of September 16^th.  The Lions Club along with the Chamber of Commerce, Towns County, and the City of Hiawassee will again sponsor a Shred event at the Georgia Mountains Fair Grounds on September 12 from 9 – 11.  This is for Towns County residents only.  There will again be a 9/11 tribute event on the Square will be September 11^th at 9:45 am and will feature the Blairsville Bagpipers.

In New Business, the Council will be asked to approve the Alcohol License for Tilted Café at the former McLain's on Main location.  They are hoping to open in 2 weeks.

There was much discussion about the new Alcohol Ordinance which may require some modification before it is final.  Some questions and discussions were around the Sports Club definition, closing time consistency, sidewalk café dates, number of package stores, brown-bagging limits, alcohol/drug conviction timelines, distance from churches, etc.  Some were referred for legal review to Attorney Mitchell.  1^st reading will be next week.

The CARES Act resolution will be on the agenda for approval. 

Whether or not to have a Halloween event was discussed.  Blairsville has already canceled theirs.  There is a concern about the volume of children we had last year and that it may be more since Blairsville is not having the event. 

The Council discussed the Technology Fee and decided that instead of $15.00 Tech Fee they wish to impose a $20.00 Tech Fee. 2^nd reading will be next week.

The City has been having ongoing issues with receiving email – one issue seems to be consistently getting mail from any account @windstream.com.  The Mayor has researched the issue with a person who works for the Federal Government and others and has suggested an alternative to our current system which will cost the City $4,600/year.  This solution will provide all users with the latest versions of Microsoft Office/Outlook with automatic updates when new versions are released.  It will also allow for easier retrieval of emails should the need arise (such as open records requests).  It works out to be about $18/month/employee.

City Council computers are set to arrive next week.  We will have Joey from our IT company come and set them up once they have arrived – they have been delayed.

The two readings at 1 meeting ordinance will be on the agenda next week.  This allows for an ordinance to pass at a single meeting if both the following conditions are met – all Council members must be present at the meeting AND all Council members must approve the ordinance.  If both conditions are not met, the ordinance will be presented for a second reading at the next Council meeting.

On the Consent agenda for the September Council meeting will be the minutes of the August 4^th Council meeting, minutes of the August 24^th Council Work Session and the May Financials.

In the Police Report, Chief Paul Smith has been approached by ServPro to help with fundraising for the Shop with a Hero program.  This year, Chief Smith has been advised by several supporters that they will not be able to participate this year because of the pandemic.  ServPro is stepping up and offering to fundraise on September 26^th with a Support our Heroes event featuring games a car show, a dunk tank (Chief Smith and Mayor Ordiales as the likely dunked), food, etc on the Square.  ServPro has also offered to clean the police vehicles free of charge if the need arises due to the pandemic.

In the Economic Development Update, Director Denise McKay told the Council that the first First Friday event was a great success and she has more vendors lined up for the next one (September 4^th).  The collection boxes for Mayors Park and Lloyds Landing are in progress and proceeds will be used for beautification projects within the City.   Work on the grant for the Paris Pavilion Business Center is in progress, the RFP is out engineering and architectural services on the building with a September deadline to be included in the grant (deadline for the grant is October 30^th).  The business plan for the Business Center is in the final stages.  The Rural Zone Applications have been submitted.  There will be a DDA event at Hamilton Gardens in October. Next First Friday is September 4^th.

There was no executive session.

Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Anne Mitchell with all present in favor. Meeting adjourned at 7:04pm.