BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE ONLY       SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
NOT OPEN TO PUBLIC

The City of Hiawassee April City Council meeting will begin at 6PM in the Council Chambers 

HIAWASSEE CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
April 6^th, 2021

1. Call to order
   • Invocation – Anne Mitchell
   • Pledge of Allegiance 
   • Mayor’s Introductions of Guests and Announcements 
   • Approve the Agenda as distributed 
2. Old Business
3. New Business 
   • 2021-2022 Budget discussion
   • Business License Ordinance Change – 2^ndReading

• Resolution to change pricing for Brewery with Tap room & Package Sales License

• Alcohol Ordinance amendment for section 4.15 – First Reading 

• Consent Agenda
  • Minutes from the March 3^rdCity Council Meeting
  • March 29^thCity Council Work Session Minutes 

3.6 Building and Planning Ordinance Changes  discussion

4. Executive Session
5. Adjournment

HIAWASSEE CITY COUNCIL MNUTES
April 6^th, 2021

The City of Hiawassee April City Council meeting was called to order at 6PM on April 6, 2021 in the Council Chambers by Mayor Liz Ordiales. The meeting was broadcast over FaceBook Live and was not open to the public due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Present in addition to the Mayor were Council members Anne Mitchell, Nancy Noblet, Amy Barrett, and Jay Chastain.  Council member Patsy Owens was absent. Staff present were Economic Development Director Denise McKay and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick. City Attorney Thomas Mitchell joined the meeting in progress.

The Invocation was given by Council member Anne Mitchell and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.  There were no guests or announcements.

Motion to approve the agenda as distributed was made by Council member Amy Barrett, seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet with all present in favor.

There was no old business.

Mayor Ordiales announced that the April Work Session (April 26^th) will be held at the Towns County Civic Center and will be open to the public – however MASK WILL BE REQUIRED for ALL attendees.  The Civic Center will give us space to keep socially distant.  We will also broadcast over FaceBook Live as we have been doing for the last year.  The FaceBook Live feel will not be formally monitored.  If you wish to be heard, you must come to the meeting.

Discussion around the 2021-2022 Budget will be pushed out until the April Work Session to give everyone time to review.  The ad will be in the April 7^th, 2021 edition of the Towns County Herald announcing the Public Hearing on May 24^thpreceding the May Work Session and the vote will be taken on June 1^st, 2021.  Council member Amy Barrett said she had some questions since somethings have changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and wanted clarity.  Council can either wait for the April Work Session to ask their questions or send your questions to the Mayor (please copy all Council members on emails).

Motion to approve the second reading Business License Ordinance was made by Council member Amy Barrett and seconded by Council member Jay Chastain, with all present in favor. 

Motion to approve the resolution to change pricing for Brewery with Tap room & Package Sales License (from $200 - $1250) was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by Council member Anne Mitchell with all present in favor.

Motion to approve the first reading Alcohol Ordinance amendment for section 4.15 was made by Council member Nancy Noblet and seconded by Council member Jay Chastain, with all present in favor. 

Motion to approve the consent agenda, which consists of the minutes from the March 3^rd City Council Meeting and minutes from March 29th Work Session was made by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Anne Mitchell with all present in favor. There was mention that the October and November financials will be part of the April Work Session, the council has received both sets of financials.

There was a lengthy discussion around the Building and Planning Ordinance Changes.  The Mayor indicated she was under the impression after the Work Session last month, that the Council wanted to have a sub-committee review the ordinance and work on changes as was done with the Alcohol Ordinance.  She wanted to be sure the Council understood that ANY changes made to the Planning and Expansion document would apply to all parcels in the City and that the document needs to be review not just thinking about this particular project and opportunity.  She also stated that there had been a question regarding the appointments to the Planning Committee and according to our City Charter (section 2-20), the Mayor appoints committees and committee chairpersons.  Council member Amy Barrett said this conflicted with the Planning and Expansion document and that also should be addressed. Mayor Ordiales has spoken with Drs. Church and Ledford as well as Mr. Lawson of Celtic Management over the weekend and they have a 120 clause on the contract so there really is a significant portion of time to review the document thoroughly and thoughtfully.  When the Planning document was written there was not capacity for water and sewer and that drove much of the document design.  As those issues no longer play a significant part, the most important factor is the aging distribution infrastructure and the only way to address that would be to replace the pipes that run under the middle of Route 76/Main Street. While it will at some point have to be addressed, the logistics and costs are overwhelming.

Council member Nancy Noblet said she was told that she did not need to attend the committee meetings, but she felt that the whole Council should be involved in the review of the Planning document.  Council member Jay Chastain said he thought Attorney Mitchell should look at the document to provide guidance and also that water and sewer capacity maybe a concern if every property in the City can have 8 – 10 units on it.  Consultation with our engineers regarding capacity and the ability of the distribution system to handle would be appropriate.  Council member Anne Mitchell had removed herself for being on the committee, but said she thought Main Street should be more attractive and mixed-use buildings not storage units.  She also indicated that it might be appropriate to consider zoning at this time.  Council member Amy Barrett asked if the council should look at what the City of Madison has done.  It was determined that the Council needs to determine what it wants so that direction is made clear and documented in the ordinance amendment. 

City Attorney Thomas Mitchell joined by telephone at 6:35pm.  Attorney Mitchell stated that there is specific state law required for Zoning and it was his understanding that neither the Council, Mayor, nor the citizens of Hiawassee were in favor of zoning.  He indicated that if the Council wanted to consider zoning, that the council should schedule several working sessions and consider using the Regional Commission and its facilitators.  The primary concern to be addressed what the Council is trying to accomplish.  Is it to limit the number of townhouses/multi-family structures or some other criteria?

The Council indicated they would rather work as a complete group with the assistance of Attorney Mitchell.   The Council will each email to Attorney Mitchell their thoughts, questions and concerns and copy the Mayor and rest of Council and Planning Board.  Mayor Ordiales will contact EMI to get information regarding capacity limitations based on the aging distribution infrastructure and what it can handle.  All Council and the Planning Board to be involved in the discussions.  Attorney Mitchell to review the document with the suggestions and input from Mayor, Council and Planning Board and make suggestions on changes to reflect Council’s desires.

There was no Executive Session.

Motion to adjourn was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by Council member Anne Mitchell with all present in favor.  Meeting adjourned at 7:13pm.