BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE ONLY SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
NOT OPEN TO PUBLIC
Hiawassee Millage Rate Hearing will begin at 6 PM with Work Session to follow immediately.
5 Year Digest is available on the City website: www.hiawasseega.gov
Questions should be directed to 706-994-7414 during this meeting
HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION AGENDA
September 28th, 2020
The September Work Session Meeting will be held immediately after the Millage Rate Public Hearing.
- Call to order
- Invocation – Anne Mitchell
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Mayor’s Introductions of Guests and Announcements
- Approve the Agenda as distributed
- Old Business
- Mayor’s Report
- Alcohol Ordinance Update
- Halloween Event
- New Business
- Process for Alcohol Licensing
- Engineering/Architectural contract with Source Urbanism $13,400 Schematic design
- Galvanized Project Approval – Boring + Materials – $15,500-Corey Garrett
- Consent Agenda
- Minutes from the September 1stCity Council Meeting
- Minutes from September 28thMillage Rate Public Hearing and Work Session
- June Financials
- Police Report
- Economic Development Update
- Executive Session
- Adjournment
MINUTES
The Hiawassee Millage Rate Hearing was called to order at 6 PM by Mayor Liz Ordiales. The meeting was broadcast over Facebook Live and was not open to in-person attendance. A call-in number was provided if someone wished to make a comment or ask a question.
Present in addition to the Mayor were Council members Anne Mitchell, Patsy Owens, Amy Barrett, Nancy Noblet, and Councilmember Jay Chastain attended via telephone. Staff present were Police Chief Paul Smith and City Clerk, Bonnie Kendrick. Also present was City Attorney Thomas Mitchell.
The Invocation was given by Councilmember Anne Mitchell and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
The 5 Year Digest was displayed and Mayor Ordiales explained the rollbacks taken over the last 5 years and then displayed the roll back-calculation received from Towns County Tax Commissioner Bruce Rogers. She suggested taking the rollback which will put the millage rate at 2.067 – a decrease of .028 ( In the meeting it was incorrectly reported as a decrease of .031.). There were no calls or comments received during the public hearing.
The City of Hiawassee September Work Session began immediately following the Millage Rate hearing. Motion to approve the agenda as distributed was made by Councilmember Nancy Noblet, seconded by Councilmember Patsy Owens with all in favor.
The Mayor gave her report which included the COVID update (Towns County had 72 new cases in the last two weeks, 331 cases total with 9 deaths – Statewide 7,000 deaths). City Hall remains closed to the public, but we are taking appointments to limit exposure and checking the drop boxes 3 times each day. This month we had 12 high usage accounts, 5 of which were leaks and claims have been opened with ServLine Insurance. A large snakeskin (approx. 6’) was found in a meter box. Work on the edging of the sidewalks continues and Mayor will ask for the Council to approve the replacement of the galvanized pipes on Thurman Drive, which is the worst of the 9 areas still serviced by the galvanized pipe. The Mayor also show a picture of the trash that was removed from the lift station at the jail. The Wastewater Treatment Plant is preparing for the winter by insulating the exposed pipes. Every 3 years, the City is required to do copper and lead testing in all the areas we service with water. All 20 samples came back excellent. Lloyds Landing clean up is continuing, the kayak ramp is in and is being used and there are children and teens, and families using the area. There will be a rock with a plaque detailing the history of the Unicoi Turnpike on which Jerry Taylor is working. The mural is nearly complete and, weather permitting will be done this week. The 9/11 tribute was well attended with the fire department, bagpipers, honor guard, and new HomeTown Heroes banners sponsored by the Rotary Club. The Hero banners from last year were presented to them or their family member. The invasion of the “Squarecrows” has begun and Hiawassee’s “Covie” the Scarecrow was presented complete with her face shield. She will swing from the City of Hiawassee sign at the entrance to the Square.
Attorney Mitchell gave the Alcohol Ordinance update. He has been working with a colleague who has a great deal of experience with alcohol ordinances. There are several changes he highlighted for the Council such as the town square being defined by the streets around it and what is allowable in that area. The Police Chief will have the authority to shut down any alcohol event if necessary. He requested clarification from the Council on if they wanted to be involved in the yearly alcohol renewals (they do) and how to handle special alcohol permits (Mayor and Police Chief approval for timing sake, but the Council is to be informed of events. Permits will only be allowed for alcohol license holders – Hiawassee or another city – with the Hiawassee license holders paying a reduced permit fee. Food requirement will be waived for alcohol vendors in special permit situation. The Sidewalk café portion of the ordinance has been deleted in its entirety. A registered agent or management of a business can request a permit as well as the owner of the business. Denial of license is only permitted by state law for 10 years on a felony conviction and 5 years on a misdemeanor conviction, however all courts (federal, state, and local) count. For instance where an owner is having difficulty - for example retaining staff - there will be a supervised action plan with heightened reporting requirements rather than removing permission to sell alcohol as the probability of the continuation of business would be in jeopardy. There was discussion about administrative vs. criminal violations and how to handle them and the hours of outside entertainment as sound travels a great distance if unimpeded. There is a fair amount of changes. Attorney Mitchell will try to get the changes to the council this week, but if the Council has not had adequate time to review, the second reading will be tabled until the November Council Meeting.
In new business, after discussion, the Council has reluctantly decided to cancel Halloween on the Square due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Chamber of Commerce may do a “Drive-by” Halloween on Jack Dayton Circle.
On the agenda for the October Council meeting will be the Engineering/Architectural contract for Source Urbanism ($13,400.00) for the schematic design of the Paris buildings. They were the only bidder, but Mayor Ordiales has reached out to a couple of architects and the price is not out of line. The schematic is the last piece needed to submit for the ARC grant.
The galvanized pipe project for Thurman Drive will cost approximately $15,500.00. Approval will be requested at the October meeting. This will cover the boring and material to replace these pipes. This is the worst and likely the most expensive of the areas.
On the consent agenda for the October, the meeting will be the minutes of the September 1st Council meeting and the September 28th Millage Rate Public Hearing and Work Session as well as the June financials.
In the Police Report Chief Smith reported on the Support Our Heroes event on the Square. It was a great success and ServPro would like to do an even larger next year. 63 cars were registered by donation and that portion of the event brought in $1000.00. Dunk tank was a big hit and also brought in $1000.00. $4000.00 was raised by the auction – over all the goal was exceeded and the total received was $11,044 which will be used for the Shop with a Hero program.
In the Economic Development Update, Denise is back home recovering and is doing well. The ARC grant is to be submitted by the end of November. The Rural Zone designation work is well underway, and the Mayor is quite optimistic that it will be awarded to the City. The October 2nd First Friday event is this week and will run from 5 pm – 9 pm as the evenings are getting cooler. The donation tubes for Mayors Park and Lloyds Landing are at Finish Line Auto to be painted. Thank you to Doug from Finish Line!
Motion to enter executive session to discuss pending litigation and personnel matters made by Councilmember Nancy Noblet, seconded by Councilmember Patsy Owens with all in favor.
Motion to exit executive session was made by Councilmember Amy Barrett, seconded by Councilmember Anne Mitchell with all in favor.
Motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Patsy Owens, seconded by Councilmember Nancy Noblet with all in favor.
Meeting adjourned at 7:49 pm