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OPEN TO PUBLIC –City Hall Training Room Upstairs

HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION AGENDA
March 27^th, 2023 6 PM

1. Call to Order
   • Invocation – Amy Barrett
   • Pledge of Allegiance 
   • Mayor’s Introductions of Guests and Announcements 
   • Approve the Agenda as distributed 
2. Old Business
   • Mayors Report
3. Discrimination Resolution - CCMA
4. Recording Policy - CCMA
5. Budget Policy Review 
6. New Business
   • Consent Agenda – CCMA
     • March 7^thCity Council Meeting
     • March 27^thWork Session Minutes  

7. Traffic Enforcement

8. Police Report
9. Economic Development Report
10. Executive Session
11. Adjournment

HIAWASSEE WORK SESSION MINUTES
March 27^th, 2023 6 PM

The March Work Session of the City Council was called to order by Mayor Liz Ordiales on March 27^th, 2023 at 6:00pm.  Present in addition to the Mayor were Council members Amy Barrett, Anne Mitchell, Nancy Noblet, and Patsy Owens. Council member Jay Chastain was not present.  Staff present were Economic Development Director Denise McKay, Downtown Development Manager Steve Harper, Police Chief Jeremy Parker, and City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick.  City Attorney Thomas Mitchell was also present.

The invocation was given by Council member Amy Barrett and was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.  

Mayor Ordiales welcomed guests including Fran Parks of Enotah CASA, Sheila Bowman of DFCS, Rev. Steve Taylor of McConnell Baptist Church, Molly Sieveking and Brittany Holbrooks of the Towns County Herald.  She also welcomed back Vince and Roberta. 

Mayor Ordiales asked that the agenda be amended to include the CASA proclamation, the resolution for the Water Treatment Plant construction award and the awarding of the Boardwalk contract to Roots.  Motion to approve the agenda as amended was made by Council member Anne Mitchell, seconded by Council member Amy Barrett with all present in favor.  A moment of silence was observed for the passing of Loretta Youngblood who was a long-time Towns County educator and member of the board of elections.

Fran Parks of Enotah CASA and Sheila Bowman of Union and Towns County Family Services explained what CASA is and does and Mayor Ordiales signed a joint proclamation (previously signed by Commissioner Bradshaw) proclaiming April as child abuse awareness month.

In Old Business, the Mayor presented her report which included updates on debt status of the City (still debt-free), property tax update ($3,400 remaining to be collected from 19 properties), need for security cameras at City Hall (current cameras are not working and out of compliance – replacement will be approximately $15k), the Easter Bunny at the banner station (thank you to Joan & Ron Gerber), ground breaking for Dunkin Donuts, first of the public art installations (Parker oil), Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution (planted a Southern Red Oak Liberty Tree at Mayors Park), the AT Hiker initiative (maps/services; stickers, Mayor Monday’s, and hikers – lots),  Daffodils at Lloyds Landing, the Music on the Square line up for this year (line up fans will be available soon), and the field trip for the special needs students at Towns County Schools to see the Champions movie – starring Woody Harrelson.  Council member Anne Mitchell showed a shirt she received when she finished the hike of the Trail many years ago.

The existing Personnel Policy which was written many years ago states that there is an Anti-Discrimination resolution in place.  City Clerk Bonnie Kendrick and the Mayor have looked high and low for this resolution, and it does not exist in any of our files.  Our options are to do the resolution or remove that verbiage from the personnel policy.  Consensus was to remove the reference to the policy.

The recording policy is strictly for City Hall procedures.  Georgia state law is 1 party consent.  This applies only to City Hall and employees.  City Attorney Thomas Michell explained the Georgia law and that if you are in a public space (reception area) there is no expectation of confidence and so there is no issue with recording, it is only when you are in an office there is an expectation of confidentiality that all parties should be aware that they are being recorded.

Budget Policy Review – No changes were requested.  The policy will stand as it is.  Mayor Ordiales stated that the 2023-2024 budget would be available by the next work session (April 24th).

In New Business, the Consent Agenda, which includes the March 7^th City Council Meeting minutes and the March 27^th Work Session Minutes, will be on the agenda for approval at the April Council Meeting.  We have not yet received financials from Walker, Pierce and Tuck, CPAs.

Council member Anne Mitchell address traffic enforcement.  She has heard from many businesses about the speed of traffic through the City and from individuals about the difficulty crossing Main Street due to speeding vehicles.  Police Chief Jeremy Parker advised Council that by Georgia state law, police officers cannot write tickets for anything under 10 miles over the speed limit.  There was much discussion about how to slow the traffic and about the difficulty crossing even at the cross walks.  Chief Parker requested that all citizens feel free to contact him with times and places where they consistently see such behavior.  It will assist him in creating plans for when and where to have officers patrolling based on the information provided.

In the Police Report, Chief Parker reported that the Toyota taken during a drug seizure sold at auction for $1,400.00.  After the expenses, there will be $1,260.00 to be used for drug enforcement.  Chief Parker also advised the Council that he will soon be requesting new laptops for all the officers’ cars at a cost between $7,500.00 and $9,200.00 installed with all necessary software.  This will be on the capital budget for next fiscal year.  Currently, there are issues with plugs not working, etc.  The laptops are approximately 6 years old which is well beyond their expected life.  Due to a complete computer crash, Chief Parker will receive a new computer for his office.

In the Economic Development Report, Director Denise McKay reported due to the cost increases since the Paris Buildings were first estimated at $1.2 million, they are now at $2 million which will necessitate a loan of $872,000.   This may need to be secured by the City, however it is not straight-forward.   Questions were raised by members of public and the Council about feasibility of a restaurant of the size and if it was sustainable, and if there were anyways to lessen the cost.  Comparisons were drawn with Sundance and Hiawassee Brew.  Director McKay also updated the Council on the Art Committee, the firefly garden at Mayors Park, Ribbon Cuttings for iPatriot, Secret Attic and Slip knot, and WashWorx, a fund raiser for the Paris Business Center (July 15^th), and the Night Market is ready to go.

There was no need for executive session, therefore motion to adjourn the meeting was make by Council member Nancy Noblet, seconded by Council member Patsy Owens, with all present in favor.  Meeting was adjourned at 7:15pm.