BROADCAST VIA FACEBOOK LIVE       SITE: CITY OF HIAWASSEE
OPEN TO PUBLIC – City Hall Training Room Upstairs

HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION AGENDA
November 29^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
   • Mayors Report
3. New Business
   • Alcohol Licenses Approval for:
     - Marathon Gas Station 
   • Consent Agenda – 
     • November 9^thCity Council Meeting Minutes 
     • November 29^thWork Session Minutes 
     • May and June Financials 

4. No Work Session in December-January meeting will be Swear in night
5. Police Report
6. Economic Development Update
7. Executive Session
8. Adjournment

HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION MINUTES
November 29^th, 2021 

The City of Hiawassee November Work Session was called to order at 6PM on November 29th, 2021, in the Upstairs Training Room at City Hall by Mayor Liz Ordiales. The meeting was broadcast over FaceBook Live.

Present in addition to the Mayor were Council members Anne Mitchell, Amy Barrett, Patsy Owens, Nancy Noblet, and Jay Chastain.  Staff present were Economic Development Director Denise McKay, Police Chief Paul Smith, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick. Also present was City Attorney Thomas Mitchell.

The Invocation was given by Council member Anne Mitchell and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.  The Mayor welcomed all guests.  Motion was made by Council member Nancy Noblet to approve the agenda as distributed, seconded by Council member Jay Chastain with all in favor. 

In her report, Mayor Ordiales gave the update on COVID-19 (55% at least 1 vaccination, 51% fully vaccinated).  There is currently no influx, but she reminds us all to Wear a mask, Wash our hands, and Walk away.  Business License renewals are coming in steadily – Due December 15^th.  Property Tax bills have gone out but are not due until January.  So far, we have received payments on 154 bills for approximately $25,000.  On personal property tax (tax on a business’ inventory), we have several businesses that have closed, and the Mayor would like to write off those personal property tax bills.  She will update the Council further as we identify all those businesses.

The Water Department’s new building has the rooms studded and rough plumbing is done.  The new shed is in at City Hall for the DDA and Police Department and she expects power to be installed next week.  For Halloween at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds, there were 1400 children and 44 participants handing out candy.  It was a great venue for safety reasons and next year she would like to expand and possibly add a haunted house.  The car counter at Mayors Park has logged 3698 cars to date.  Ellawassee (Pink Elephant) is at Lloyds Landing.  The DDA picked up the City’s $600,000 check from ARC.  We received our first letter to Santa today and any letter received that has a return address will get a response.  Light Up Hiawassee is this Saturday (December 4^th) at 4 on the Square.  The Sheriff’s parade will start at the Fairgrounds at 5:30 and end at the Square and Santa will arrive approximately 6:00 on a fire truck. Pictures will be at the Old Rock Jail.  Jim and Judy Yohe have set up a Christmas Village in the window at the Paris Building for all to enjoy.  VFW will have their first annual Christmas party on December 11^th from 1 – 4 for an additional picture with Santa opportunity.  Bonny Herman described the process that resulted in the Cultural Corridor brochure.

In new business, the Marathon Gas Station has applied for alcohol license approval to sell beer and wine.  The owner has also submitted the second application for a package store.

The consent agenda will consist of the November 9^th City Council Meeting Minutes, the November 29^th Work Session Minutes and the May and June Financials.

The Mayor reminded the Council that there will be no Work Session in December and the January meeting will be Swear in night.

In the Police Report, Chief Paul Smith reminded the Council that Shop with a Hero will take place on the 17^th and that tomorrow Trailful Outdoors will donate all profits to Shop with a Hero.  The Hiawassee Police Department is hosting a training class on the morning of December 17^th on Open Government/Social Media Essentials for Public Office by Georgia First Amendment Foundation.  Traffic last month logged 400K vehicles passing by the two tag readers in town.  To date 90 tickets have been written based on alerts from the tag readers which resulted in approximately $26,000 in fines, not all the revenue has been collected as of yet.  Chief Smith asked the Council to consider revising the Noise Ordinance to make it more enforceable.  This will be on the agenda for the January 2022 Work Session.  Council member Nancy Noblet asked if the speed sign in front of the Georgia Mountain Restaurant could be moved closer to the Post Office to see how fast the traffic is moving in that area.  Chief Smith said it was portable and he would inquire of DOT what would be required to move it.  In response to a question about commercial trucks in the city, Chief Smith said that the police can and do stop commercial vehicles for speeding.

In the Economic Development Update, the DDA will attend a planning retreat in January to work on the plan for the year.  They will also attend DDA training in March and Director Denise McKay invited the Council to attend.  The Paris Business Center Request for Proposal will need to be reposted due to the grant requirements.  The DDA has logged 46 hours of time for the City.  Mayor Ordiales said she has 7 job descriptions from all over the state for the DDA Project Manager positions and will need to pull out the parts that make sense for Hiawassee.  Once that is done, she will ask Carl Vinson Institute for an appropriate salary range.  She has had a few people express interest in the position.

Motion to enter Executive Session to discuss property acquisition and litigation was made by Council member Amy Barrett seconded by Council member Jay Chastain with all in favor.

Motion to exit Executive Session was made by Council member Amy Barrett seconded by Council member Nancy Noblet with all in favor.

Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Council member Jay Chastain seconded by Council member Patsy Owens with all in favor.

Meeting adjourned at 6:51pm.