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

Home Rule Ordinance Public Hearing will be held prior to the Work Session

HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION AGENDA
July 25^th, 2022 6PM

1. Call to order
   • Invocation – Liz Ordiales
   • Pledge of Allegiance 
   • Mayor’s Introductions of Guests and Announcements 
   • Approve the Agenda as distributed 
2. Old Business
   • Mayors Report
   • Dual Ordinance Reading – 1 Meeting 
3. New Business
   • Consent Agenda – 
     • July 5^th City Council Meeting Minutes 
     • July 25^th Work Session Minutes  

4. August 13^th2022 City Council Retreat 

5. Update from the Accounting/CPA selection committee

6. Police Report
7. Economic Development Report
8. Executive Session
9. Adjournment

HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION MINUTES
July 25^th, 2022 6 PM

The City of Hiawassee held a Public Hearing to allow comment on the Home Rule amendment to the City Charter to do two ordinance reads in one meeting.  The hearing was broadcast over FaceBook Live and open to the public in the City Hall Training Room Upstairs. There were no questions or comments.

The July 2022 Work Session followed the public hearing and was called to order by Mayor Liz Ordiales on July 25^th, 2022 at 6:00 pm.  Present in addition to the Mayor were Council members Anne Mitchell, Patsy Owens, and Jay Chastain. Council members, Amy Barrett and Nancy Noblet were absent.  Staff present were Economic Development Director Denise McKay and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick.  City Attorney Thomas Mitchell was also present.

The invocation was given by Mayor Ordiales and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Mayor Ordiales welcomed the many guests in attendance.

Mayor Ordiales requested that the agenda be amended so that the Economic Development report be presented prior to the Police report.  Motion to approve the agenda as amended was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by Council member Patsy Owens, with all present in favor.

In old business the Mayor gave her report which included the COVID update – we are again experiencing an uptick in cases, details of the library event on the Square which allow the many children and families to see inside a police patrol car, an ambulance, a firetruck and a forestry truck.  The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) has determined that Towns County is no longer an “at-risk” area.  The Mayor also presented the Explore Georgia tourism numbers for the state (5^th in the nation for overnight stays and 7^th in the nation for day trips), an update on Lloyds Landing (family fun on a Saturday at the Park) and Mayors Park (major clean up – thank you Jesse Cook and Gordy Jones), the sidewalks (Tilted Café and Hiawassee Hardware sidewalks are complete, striping at Tilted Café should be done this week, more work in town will be done in the coming weeks and the sidewalk from Hiawassee Brew to Ross Lloyd Road (Near Georgia  Vision Center) will happen in mid-August. The Water Treatment Plant filter clean-up (filter needs to be clean annually and it has not been done in several years – kudos to Andrew Sims the new Water Treatment Plant supervisor for recognizing this discrepancy and addressing it).  Music on the Square continues.  Teddy Baker will be performing this coming Saturday.  We have made a substantial payment ($425,000.00) on the next highest interest rate loan and shaved 8 years off the loan. She updated the Council on her meeting with Rachel Beineman-Toller, Dr. Church’s intern on how to address health care needs in our area, Candace Lee’s retirement from the Chamber of Commerce and the Daffodil project at Lloyds Landing (1000 bulbs will be planted and the area will be fenced in).

Also, in old business the Dual Ordinance Reading – 1 Meeting will be on the agenda for second reading next week.

In New Business the consent agenda will consist of the July 5^th City Council Meeting Minutes and the July 25^th Work Session Minutes.

The Council retreat will be held at Brasstown Valley Resort on August 13^th.

City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick gave the CPA update – the new team has been given the documents and access they have requested, and Mr. Wayne Tuck has been in contact with both Lisa Strickland of Strickland and Associates CPAs and Chris Hollifield of Rushton and Associates (our auditors).  Mr. Tuck reported that they have both been very helpful.  They are currently working on the integration of the new payroll system and QuickBooks, which is necessary for the reconciliation of the books.

In the Economic Development Report, Director Denise McKay reiterated the great news from ARC that we are no longer an At-Risk community and thanked everyone for their support in making that happen.  In the Financial update, the Downtown Development Authority has $28,761.00 in the bank account.  It is not enough to do all the projects planned so they are actively fundraising for their projects.  The Youth Leadership program was presented by Dr. Berrong to the School Board and was approved. Anyone can volunteer – there is a training requirement, and it is 4 or 8 hours depending on whether you are a former educator or not. The ongoing commitment is 1 day a month.  It will start with 3^rd grade and 9th-grade programs and expect to add two grades per year until all grades are involved.  This is part of the Work Force planning and the DDA has received grant funding for the program so it will not cost the county anything.

Moose Creek Ribbon cutting was last week – it is a great shop - and Amy’s Mountain Boho (near the Christmas Tree Shops) will have a grand opening on Thursday 7/28/22 at noon.  The Paris Business Center Fundraising committee held a fundraising event at Bacchus on the Lake which was sponsored Tilted Café, Bacchus on the Lake and Paul Baumann (Chairman of the fundraising committee for the Paris Business Center).  $5,000.00 was raised that evening and more money is expected.  The next fundraising event will be held on September 14 on the Square from 6:30 – 8:30 pm.  The Business Center is currently working will 11 clients and approximately 5 will be in attendance to talk about how the Center is assisting them.  The August First Friday is next week, and the Grace Worley Band will be providing entertainment.  There will be Axe throwing available for the adventurous and 23 vendors to visit.

In the Police Report, Mayor Ordiales said that the police department has budgeted $40,000 for a new police car in this fiscal year, however, Chief Paul Smith has found one for $34,900.  Approval will be on the agenda next week.  Chief Smith is in Savannah at the Chief’s Conference.  Mayor Ordiales presented the Council and guests with the timeline of the traffic stop involving Sergeant James which originated at the Valero Gas Station on the west end of the town and showed the video footage from the Valero station camera.  This video solidifies the fact that incident occurred inside the City limits. 

Simon Illikattil, owner of the Hiawassee Package Store, spoke to the Council and guests about creating some limits on package stores in the City.  He stated that most cities limit the number of licenses (Cleveland, Cornelia, McDonough were given as examples).  He asked the Council to consider putting some limits on number of businesses or distance requirements.  He has concerns around being able to support multiple package stores.  A guest stated that just because we have an application doesn’t mean we have to accept it, however City Attorney Thomas Mitchell state that he will have to be accepted if he meets the requirements of the ordinance as it stands now.   Changes would only affect applicants going forward.

Motion to go into executive session to discuss pending litigation was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by Council member Patsy Owens, will all present in favor. 

Motion to exit executive session was made by Council member Anne Mitchell, seconded by Patsy Owens with all present in favor.

Motion to adjourn was made by Council member Jay Chastain, seconded by Council member patsy Owens will all present in favor.  Meeting adjourned at 7:00pm.